How to say "library" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaninglibrary
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
maktabaמכתבה
مكتبة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
sifriyaسِفْرِيَا
How the two words are related
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ك-ت-بHebrew root
כ-ת-בAnother כ-ת-ב 'write' word: Hebrew built מכתבה 'writing desk' on the same pattern, while Arabic maktaba grew into the library or bookshop — all from the root shared with כתב/kataba.
Related Hebrew word:מכתבהmikhtavaمِخْتَاڤَا
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In a phrase
the university library
The root family
ك-ت-بכ-ת-ב· writing
The Semitic writing root, shared letter for letter: kataba is כתב. Both languages pour it into the same molds but sometimes swap the results — Arabic maktab is the office or desk, while Hebrew מכתב is the letter you would write there. From books (kitāb) to addresses (כתובת), each language wandered its own way from the same act of writing.
- كَتَبَ katabahe wroteכָּתַבhe wrote
- كِتَاب kitābbookכְּתָבwriting, script
- مَكْتَب maktaboffice, deskמִכְתָּבa letter — same shape, swapped meaning!
- مَكْتَبَة maktabalibrary, bookshopמַכְתֵּבָהwriting desk
- كَاتِب kātibwriter, clerkכּוֹתֵבone who writes
- مَكْتُوب maktūbwritten; fated ("it is written")כָּתוּבwritten