How to say "satellite" in Arabic
New wordMeaningsatellite
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
قَمَر صِنَاعِيّ
qamar ṣināʿīקמר צנאעי
قمر صناعي
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
לוויין
lavyanلَاڤْيَان
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
ق-م-رNo Hebrew relative — qamar, 'moon', is unrelated to Hebrew יָרֵחַ or סַהַר; ṣināʿī, 'artificial, industrial', is from ص-ن-ع 'to manufacture' (its letters happen to land on Hebrew צ-נ-ע, 'to be modest, private' — a coincidence of sound with nothing to do with meaning). Hebrew's own לוויין solved the naming problem differently: 'the escort, the one who accompanies', from ל-ו-ה. Moon versus escort — two honest, unrelated metaphors for the same silver dot in the sky.
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In a phrase
يَدُور الْقَمَر الصِّنَاعِيّ حَوْل الْأَرْض
yadūru l-qamar aṣ-ṣināʿī ḥawla l-arḍידור אל-קמר א-צנאעי חול אל-ארצ'The satellite orbits the earth.
Plural
أَقْمَار صِنَاعِيَّة
aqmār ṣināʿiyyaאקמאר צנאעיהbroken plural aCCāC on qamar — like وَلَد→أَوْلَاد; ṣināʿiyya agrees as singular feminine.