How to say "Jew" in Arabic
CognateMeaningJew
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
يَهُودِيّ
yahūdīיהודי
يهودي
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
יהודי
yehudiيِهُودِي
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Yahūdī and יהודי are the same word, both from the proper name יהודה (Yehuda/Judah) — Jacob's fourth son, then a tribe, then a kingdom, then a people. Arabic's collective يهود Yahūd, 'the Jews', is the base form; -ī turns it into 'a Jew' (singulative) — the mirror image of how Hebrew usually builds a plural.
Related Hebrew word:יהודהyehudaيِهُودَا
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In a phrase
هُوَ رَجُل يَهُودِيّ
huwa rajul yahūdīהו רג'ל יהודיhe is a Jewish man
Plural
يَهُود
yahūdיהודcollective plural — the base word 'the Jews', from which yahūdī 'a Jew' is derived (singulative), reversing the usual singular-to-plural direction
Feminine
يَهُودِيَّة
yahūdiyyaיהודיה