How to say "city" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningcity
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
مَدِينَة
madīnaמדינה
مدينة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
עיר
irإِير
How the two words are related
Shifted meaning
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
م-د-نHebrew root
ד-י-ןHebrew מדינה is built on ד-י-ן 'to judge' — originally a district under one jurisdiction — and Arabic madīna is traditionally linked to the same root, most likely via Aramaic mədīna 'province' (Arabic dictionaries file it under m-d-n). Classic trap: Hebrew מדינה drifted to mean 'state', while Arabic madīna is simply 'city'.
Related Hebrew word:מדינהmedinaمِدِينَا
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In a phrase
أَسْكُنُ فِي الْمَدِينَة
askunu fī al-madīnaאסכן פי אל-מדינהI live in the city
Plural
مُدُن
mudunמדןbroken plural CuCuC — like كِتَاب→كُتُب