How to say "teacher" in Arabic
New wordMeaningteacher
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
muʿallimמעלם
معلم
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
moreمُورِي
How the two words are related
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
ع-ل-مThe tempting link between Arabic ʿ-l-m 'know' (as in عِلْم 'science') and Hebrew ע-ל-ם 'hide' (נעלם) is debated, so no cognate is claimed. The shape, though, is pure family: muʿallim is the muCaCCiC doer participle — exactly Hebrew's piel participle מלמד, m- prefix and doubled middle consonant included.
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On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria
In the Levant mʿallem is less 'schoolteacher' and more 'boss, master craftsman'; a schoolteacher is usually ustāz.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
In Cairo miʿallim is the boss or master craftsman (ya miʿallim!); a schoolteacher is mudarris.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
Darija mʿellem is likewise a master craftsman or boss; a teacher is l-ustād.
In a phrase
The teacher is in the classroom.
Plural
sound masculine plural -ūn
Feminine
The root family
ع-ل-م· knowing
Arabic's great knowledge root — science, teachers, flags, and the world itself. Hebrew's ע-ל-ם is a different root meaning "to hide" (נעלם, תעלומה), so there is no straight twin; Hebrew covers this ground with י-ד-ע and ל-מ-ד instead. Yet עולם and ʿālam are clearly the same word — many linguists hold that Arabic took ʿālam from Aramaic ʿālmā, so the world sneaks in through a side door.
- عِلْم ʿilmknowledge, science
- عَلِمَ ʿalimahe knew
- مُعَلِّم muʿallimteacher
- عَالَم ʿālamworldעוֹלָםworld — likely the same word via Aramaic
- تَعْلِيم taʿlīmeducation, instruction
- عَلَم ʿalamflag, banner