How to say "food" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningfood
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
طَعَام
ṭaʿāmטעאם
طعام
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
אוכל
okhelأُوخِل
How the two words are related
Shifted meaning
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ط-ع-مHebrew root
ט-ע-םThe root ṭ-ʿ-m covers both sides of the plate: Arabic ṭaʿām is the food, Hebrew טעם is its taste — and biblical מטעמים, Isaac's requested delicacies, bridges the two.
Related Hebrew word:טעםta'amتَاءَم
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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
أَكْل
aklאכלCairo's everyday 'food' is akl, 'eating'; ṭaʿām sounds formal.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
مَاكْلَة
māklaמאכלהDarija's food is mākla.
In a phrase
الطَّعَام لَذِيذ
aṭ-ṭaʿām ladhīdhא-טעאם לד'יד'the food is delicious
Plural
أَطْعِمَة
aṭʿimaאטעמהbroken plural ʾaCCiCa — like سؤال→أسئلة (asʾila); means foods, dishes