How to say "nation" in Arabic
CognateMeaningnation
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
أُمَّة
ummaאמה
أمة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
אומה
umaأُومَا
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
أ-م-مHebrew root
א-מ-םאומה and umma are the same word, and both lean on the same family intuition: umm/אם 'mother'. A nation is the mother-group — hence al-umam al-muttaḥida, the United Nations.
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In a phrase
اَلْأُمَم الْمُتَّحِدَة
al-umam al-muttaḥidaאל-אמם אל-מתחדהthe United Nations
Plural
أُمَم
umamאמםBroken plural CuCaC — أمة→أمم, like دولة→دول.