How to say "disagreement, difference" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningdisagreement, difference
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
خِلَاف
khilāfח'לאף
خلاف
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
מחלוקת
makhloketمَاخْلُوكِت
How the two words are related
Shifted meaning
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
خ-ل-فHebrew root
ח-ל-ףArabic خ-ل-ف means "to come after, succeed, take another's place" — خَلِيفَة khalīfa, "caliph," is literally "successor," and خِلاف is "disagreement" — people who come after tend to see things differently. The matching Hebrew root is ח-ל-ף, but it drifted elsewhere: חילוף is an "exchange," תחליף a "substitute." Hebrew's everyday word for disagreement, מחלוקת, is unrelated — a different root about splitting things into shares (חלק).
Related Hebrew word:חילוףkhilufخِيلُوف
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In a phrase
لَدَيْنَا خِلَاف
ladaynā khilāfלדינא ח'לאףWe have a disagreement.
Plural
خِلَافَات
khilāfātח'לאפאתsound feminine plural -āt