أَخٌ brother in Arabic
أَخٌ is how you say “brother” in Arabic.
Root ا خ و ʾ-kh-w. noun (kinship term). akh.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
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
Example sentence
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'.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
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
- أُخْتٌ sister
- إِخْوَةٌ brothers, siblings
- إِخْوَانٌ brothers, friends, companions
- أُخُوَّةٌ brotherhood, the bond of a brother
- آخَى to fraternize with, treat as a brother
More example sentences
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.
فَبِاللَّهِ يَا أَخِي ثُمَّ بِاللَّهِ ،
By God, O my brother, by God.
أَخِي my brother
This noun ends in the attached '-i' (my), a first-person possessor folded onto its tail, giving 'my brother'. As the person being addressed after the call-word, it is in direct-address position, and the suffix marks the warm, personal relationship the speaker claims with the listener.
فَهُوَ وَالنَّصْرُ أَخَوَانِ شَقِيقَانِ
So he and victory are full brothers.
أَخَوَانِ two brothers
This noun is in the dual, Arabic's 'exactly two' form, so 'two' is folded into its ending rather than spoken separately. It is the predicate of the pair 'he and victory': they two are brothers. The dual ending agrees with the two-member subject joined by the preceding 'and'.
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.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).