How to say "drone" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningdrone
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ṭāʾira musayyaraטאארה מסירה
طائرة مسيرة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
rakhfanرَاخْفَان
How the two words are related
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
س-ي-رHebrew root
ס-י-רTwo roots already in this app, reunited: ṭāʾira, 'the flying one' (see airplane — a shifted cousin of Hebrew טס), carries musayyara, 'piloted, driven', the passive participle of sayyara — the very root behind car (sayyāra) and Hebrew סייר, 'to scout, patrol'. A drone, in Arabic, is literally 'the flying thing that is remotely patrolled' — fitting, for a device best known for reconnaissance.
Related Hebrew word:סיורsiyurسِيُور
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
The English loan 'drone' is common in casual speech, especially for hobby drones.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
Cairo too uses the English loan.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
Darija too uses the loan.
In a phrase
The drone films from above.
Plural
sound feminine plural -āt on ṭāʾira; musayyara stays singular feminine (non-human plural agreement).