How to say "garlic" in Arabic

Cognate

Meaninggarlic

Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic

ثُوم

thūmת'ום

ثوم

Hebrew · Modern Hebrew

שום

shumشُوم

How the two words are related

Cognate

Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.

Arabic root

ث-و-م

Hebrew root

ש-ו-ם

Arabic ث regularly becomes Hebrew ש (thalātha/שלוש), so thūm is exactly שום. Both are on the Numbers 11:5 craving list too — השומים.

How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.

Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria

تُوم

tūmתום

City dialects turn th into t: tūm.

Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta

تُوم

tōmתום

Cairo: tōm, with th → t.

Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes

تُومَة

tūmaתומה

Darija: tūma.

ثُوم وَبَصَل

thūm wa-baṣalת'ום ובצל

garlic and onions