How to say "basement, cellar" in Arabic
New wordMeaningbasement, cellar
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
قَبْو
qabwקבו
قبو
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
מרתף
martefمَارْتِف
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
ق-ب-وNo solid Hebrew relative — despite the tempting echo with כיפה 'dome', the initial consonants don't correspond by regular sound law (Hebrew כ answers Arabic ك, not ق), so file this as a false lead rather than a cognate. The root ق-ب-و 'to arch, vault' is the same one behind قُبَّة qubba, a dome.
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
بَدْرُوم
badrōmבדרוםFrom Turkish bodrum; the Cairo basement.
In a phrase
نَزَلَ إِلَى الْقَبْو
nazala ilā l-qabwנזל אלא אל-קבוHe went down to the basement.
Plural
أَقْبِيَة
aqbiyaאקביהbroken plural aCCiCa — like سَرِير→أَسِرَّة