How to say "late" in Arabic
CognateMeaninglate
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
مُتَأَخِّر
mutaʾakhkhirמתאח'ר
متأخر
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
מאוחר
me'ukharمِئُوخَار
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
أ-خ-رHebrew root
א-ח-רSame root as Hebrew אחר, 'after, behind' — regular أ↔א, خ↔ח. Both languages grammaticalized 'behind' into 'late' the same way: Arabic taʾakhkhara and Hebrew איחר both literally mean 'he made himself behind'.
Related Hebrew word:אחרakharأَخَار
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
مِتْأَخَّر
mitʾakhkharמתאח'רCairo: mitʾakhkhar.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
مْعطّل
mʿeṭṭelמעטלDarija's 'late' is mʿeṭṭel.
In a phrase
آسِف، أَنَا مُتَأَخِّر
āsif, anā mutaʾakhkhirאסף, אנא מתאח'רsorry, I'm late
Feminine
مُتَأَخِّرَة
mutaʾakhkhiraמתאח'רה