How to say "oil" in Arabic

Shifted meaning

Meaningoil

Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic

زَيْت

zaytזית

زيت

Hebrew · Modern Hebrew

שמן

shemenشِمِن

How the two words are related

Shifted meaning

Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.

Arabic root

ز-ي-ت

Hebrew root

ז-י-ת

Arabic zayt is oil — originally olive oil — while Hebrew זית is the olive itself. Same word, one step apart on the production line: שמן זית holds both ideas.

Related Hebrew word:זיתzayitزَايِت

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In a phrase

زَيْت زَيْتُون

zayt zaytūnזית זיתון

olive oil

Plural

زُيُوت

zuyūtזיות

broken plural CuCūC — like قلب→قلوب (qulūb); means kinds of oil

More words from this root

oliveszaytūnزَيْتُونזיתים