How to say "factory" in Arabic
New wordMeaningfactory
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
مَصْنَع
maṣnaʿמצנע
مصنع
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
מפעל
mifalمِيفَال
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
ص-ن-عNo solid Hebrew cognate — מפעל 'factory' runs on a different root, פ-ע-ל 'to act, do'. Curiously, Arabic's own root ص-ن-ع lines up letter for letter with Hebrew's rare root צ-נ-ע (as in הַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת, 'walk humbly', Micah 6:8) — but 'to manufacture' and 'to be modest' are too far apart in meaning to call it a real cognate. Treat it as an intriguing near-miss.
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On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
أُوزِين
ūzīnאוזיןFrom French usine: l-ūzīn.
In a phrase
مَصْنَع سَيَّارَات
maṣnaʿ sayyārātמצנע סיאראתa car factory
Plural
مَصَانِع
maṣāniʿמצאנעbroken plural maCāCiC