How to say "court (of law)" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningcourt (of law)
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
maḥkamaמחכמה
محكمة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
beit mishpatبِيت مِشْپَات
How the two words are related
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ح-ك-مHebrew root
ח-כ-םḥ-k-m again — the root of Hebrew חכם: the wise one judges. maḥkama wears the ma- place pattern, 'the place of judging', built just like Hebrew מ-prefix place nouns (מדרשה, מסעדה).
Related Hebrew word:חכםkhakhamخَاخَام
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In a phrase
He went to the court.
Plural
Broken plural maCāCiC — like مكتب→مكاتب.
The root family
ح-ك-مח-כ-ם· judgment, wisdom
One root, two career paths: Hebrew took wisdom (חכם, חכמה), Arabic took power — ḥukm is a ruling, ḥukūma the government, maḥkama the court. But the older shared sense survives untouched in Arabic ḥakīm "sage" and ḥikma "wisdom", which sit letter-perfect beside חכם and חכמה.
- حُكُومَة ḥukūmagovernment
- حَكَمَ ḥakamahe ruled, judgedחָכַםhe grew wise — ruling vs. knowing
- حُكْم ḥukmruling, judgment, verdict
- حِكْمَة ḥikmawisdomחָכְמָהwisdom — the same word
- حَكِيم ḥakīmwise man, sage (colloquially: doctor)חָכָםwise; a sage
- مَحْكَمَة maḥkamacourt of law