How to say "son-in-law" in Arabic
CognateMeaningson-in-law
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
khatanח'תן
ختن
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
khatan (ba'ala shel habat)خَاتَان (بَاءَالَا شِل هَابَات)
How the two words are related
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
خ-ت-نHebrew root
ח-ת-ןKhatan is Hebrew ḥatan (חתן) letter for letter — and the same root as khatana, 'to circumcise'. In the ancient Semitic world, marrying into a family and being cut into its covenant were bound up in one root. Hebrew ḥatan does double duty for 'groom' and 'son-in-law'; Arabic khatan keeps the in-law sense.
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
A different word: nisīb is Cairo's all-purpose in-law — son-, brother- or father-in-law.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
A different word: nsīb is the Darija in-law, by marriage on any side.
In a phrase
My son-in-law is a generous man.
Plural
broken plural aCCāC — like ختن→أختان.