How to say "ship" in Arabic
CognateMeaningship
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
سَفِينَة
safīnaספינה
سفينة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
ספינה
sfinaسْفِينَا
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
س-ف-نHebrew root
ס-פ-ןA clean, ancient match: safīna and ספינה are the same word, same root ס-פ-ן/س-ف-ن — one of the oldest words for a vessel shared across the Semitic family.
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
مَرْكِب
markibמרכבCairo's everyday word for any boat or ship is markib; safīna sounds formal.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
بَابُور
bābūrבאבורDarija's ship is a bābūr, from Italian vapore, the steamer.
In a phrase
سَفِينَة كَبِيرَة
safīna kabīraספינה כבירהa big ship
Plural
سُفُن
sufunספןbroken plural CuCuC — like مَدِينَة→مُدُن