How to say "cloud" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningcloud
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
سَحَاب
saḥābסחאב
سحاب
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
ענן
ananأَنَان
How the two words are related
Shifted meaning
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
س-ح-بHebrew root
ס-ח-בSaḥāb comes from the root s-ḥ-b, 'to drag' — clouds are what the wind drags across the sky. Hebrew סחב (to drag, to schlep) is the same root, letter for letter.
Related Hebrew word:סחבsakhavسَاخَاڤ
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria
غَيْمِة
ghēmeע'ימהLevantine usually says ghēme for a cloud.
In a phrase
سَحَاب أَبْيَض
saḥāb abyaḍסחאב אביצ'white clouds
Plural
سُحُب
suḥubסחבbroken plural CuCuC — like كِتَاب→كُتُب