How to say "souvenir" in Arabic
CognateMeaningsouvenir
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
tidhkārתד'כאר
تذكار
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
mazkeretمَازْكِرِت
How the two words are related
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
ذ-ك-رHebrew root
ז-כ-רLetter for letter the Hebrew word: tidhkār and מזכרת both mean exactly 'souvenir', both built on the same remembering root ذ-ك-ر/ז-כ-ר. Its cousin تذكرة, 'ticket', is literally 'a little reminder' too — see the ticket entry for how that one drifted.
Learn it
In a phrase
I bought a souvenir
Plural
sound plural -āt
The root family
ذ-ك-رז-כ-ר· remembering
Memory with the regular ז↔ذ swap: dhakara is זכר. Both languages also use this root for "male" — זכר and dhakar — an ancient shared polysemy. Arabic turned a reminder into the everyday tadhkira, a ticket, while Hebrew built מזכרת (souvenir) and תזכורת (reminder) from the very same instinct.
- ذَكَرَ dhakarahe mentioned, rememberedזָכַרhe remembered
- ذِكْر dhikrremembrance; Sufi devotional chantזֵכֶרmemory (of)
- تَذْكِرَة tadhkiraticket — literally "a reminder"תִּזְכֹּרֶתreminder
- ذِكْرَى dhikrāmemory, anniversaryזִכָּרוֹןmemory, memorial
- ذَكَر dhakarmaleזָכָרmale — the same double meaning
- مُذَكِّرَة mudhakkiranotebook; memorandumמַזְכֶּרֶתsouvenir