Arabic vocabulary
أَخٌbrother in Arabic
أَخٌ is how you say “brother” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in real example sentences from classical texts below.
Root ا خ و (ʾ-kh-w)noun (kinship term)Pronounced akh
Meaning of brother in Arabic
- brother — son of the same father and/or mother, or a foster-brother
- friend, companion, associate — figurative extension of the kinship sense
أَخٌ is the everyday word for a blood or foster-brother but is also used loosely for a close friend or companion. It takes two plurals that differ in emphasis: إِخْوَةٌ usually marks real siblings and إِخْوَانٌ usually marks friends or companions, though usage sometimes crosses over.
Words from the same root
- أُخْتٌsister
- إِخْوَةٌbrothers, siblings
- إِخْوَانٌbrothers, friends, companions
- أُخُوَّةٌbrotherhood, the bond of a brother
- آخَىto fraternize with, treat as a brother
Common questions
- How do you say "brother" in Arabic?
- أَخٌ (akh).
- What is the plural of أَخٌ؟
- Two common plurals: إِخْوَةٌ (ikhwa), usually for blood brothers, and إِخْوَانٌ (ikhwān), usually for brothers or friends more broadly.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
فقال النبي ﷺ فقهوا أخاكم في دينه، وأقرئوه القرآن وأطلقوا له أسيره ففعلوا
Then the Prophet ﷺ said: Educate your brother in his religion, teach him the Quran, and release his captive, and they did so.
أَخَاكُمْ — your brother. akh means 'brother'; the ending '-kum' adds 'your' (a group) — 'your brother'; the object of 'instruct'.
From: Early Converts to Islam →فَانْطَلَقَ الأَخُ حَتَّى قَدِمَهُ وَسَمِعَ مِنْ قَوْلِهِ،
Then the brother set out until he reached him and heard his words.
الأَخُ — the brother. Carries the attached 'the', marking a specific known brother, and stands as the subject doing the setting-out, its ending in the subject case.
From: A Stranger Finds the Prophet →فَبِاللَّهِ
Related words
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