How to say "toilet, restroom" in Arabic
CognateMeaningtoilet, restroom
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
مِرْحَاض
mirḥāḍמרחאצ'
مرحاض
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
שירותים
sherutimشِرُوتِيم
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
ر-ح-ضHebrew root
ר-ח-צRoot ر-ح-ض is Hebrew ר-ח-ץ exactly — the regular צ↔ض correspondence, as in أرض/ארץ — both meaning 'to wash, rinse'. A mirḥāḍ is simply 'the washing place'; Hebrew kept the same root alive in רחצה, a wash, and בית מרחץ, a bathhouse.
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
بِيت الْمَا
bīt l-maבית ל-מאDarija says bīt l-ma, 'the water room'.
In a phrase
أَيْنَ الْمِرْحَاض؟
ayna al-mirḥāḍ?אין אל-מרחאצ'Where is the toilet?
Plural
مَرَاحِيض
marāḥīḍמראחיצ'broken plural maCāCīC — like مِفْتَاح→مَفَاتِيح