How to say "doctor" in Arabic
New wordMeaningdoctor
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
طَبِيب
ṭabībטביב
طبيب
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
רופא
rofeرُوفِي
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
ط-ب-بLearn 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
دُكْتُور
duktōrדכתורEveryday speech usually says duktōr.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
دُكْتُور
duktūrדכתורCairo: duktūr (f. duktūra).
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
طْبِيب
ṭbībטביבDarija keeps ṭbīb, first vowel dropped (duktūr is heard too).
In a phrase
ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى الطَّبِيب
dhahabtu ilā ṭ-ṭabībד'הבת אלא א-טביבI went to the doctor.
Plural
أَطِبَّاء
aṭibbāʾאטבאאbroken plural aCCiCāʾ, the pattern for CaCīC professions — like صديق→أصدقاء; the doubled root ط-ب-ب squeezes it to aṭibbāʾ