How to say "fork" in Arabic
New wordMeaningfork
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
شَوْكَة
shawkaשוכה
شوكة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
מזלג
mazlegمَازْلِگ
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
ش-و-كNo Hebrew relative — shawka's plain meaning is still 'thorn, sting'; the fork borrowed its name from what it resembles, the same trick behind English fork, from Latin furca, a farmer's pitchfork.
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On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
فرْشِيطَة
fershīṭaפרשיטהA different word: fershīṭa is the Darija fork.
In a phrase
أَكَلَ بِالشَّوْكَة
akala bi-sh-shawkaאכל בא-שוכהHe ate with the fork.
Plural
شَوْكَات
shawkātשוכאתsound feminine plural -āt, distinguishing the tool from شَوْك, the collective 'thorns'