How to say "poor, wretched, pitiable" in Arabic
LoanwordMeaningpoor, wretched, pitiable
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
مِسْكِين
miskīnמסכין
مسكين
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
מסכן
miskenمِسْكِن
How the two words are related
Loanword
Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).
Hebrew misken (מסכן), 'poor thing', and Arabic miskīn are the very same word — both go back to Akkadian muškēnu, 'commoner, pauper', and it already appears in Ecclesiastes. Europe borrowed it from Arabic too: French mesquin, Italian meschino.
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In a phrase
وَلَد مِسْكِين
walad miskīnולד מסכיןa poor boy
Plural
مَسَاكِين
masākīnמסאכיןbroken plural maCāCīC — like مجنون→مجانين
Feminine
مِسْكِينَة
miskīnaמסכינה