How to say "zero" in Arabic
LoanwordMeaningzero
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
صِفْر
ṣifrצפר
صفر
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
אפס
efesإِفِس
How the two words are related
Loanword
Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).
Arabic root
ص-ف-رArabic ṣifr means 'empty' — it traveled through medieval Latin as cifra and gave the world both 'zero' and 'cipher'. Hebrew ספרה 'digit' is usually traced to the same word — whether it arrived via European cifra or more directly from Arabic is debated — re-dressed in the native counting root ס-פ-ר.
Related Hebrew word:ספרהsifraسِفْرَا
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In a phrase
تَحْتَ الصِّفْر
taḥt aṣ-ṣifrתחת א-צפרbelow zero
Plural
أَصْفَار
aṣfārאצפארbroken plural aCCāC — like وَلَد→أَوْلَاد; three zeros is ثَلَاثَة أَصْفَار.