How do you say "Jewish" in Arabic?

يَهُود (yahūd) — properly the collective/tribal name "the Jews"; the more specifically adjectival form for "Jewish" is يَهُودِيّ (yahūdiyy).

What does the root ه و د (h-w-d) mean?

At its core it carries the sense of returning or repenting, and by extension being gentle or quiet; from the same root, هَادَ also came to mean "to become a Jew."

Arabic vocabulary

يَهُودJewish in Arabic

يَهُود is how you say “Jewish” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in a real example sentence from classical texts below.

Root ه و د (h-w-d)noun (collective/tribal proper noun); also used adjectivallyPronounced yahūd

Meaning of Jewish in Arabic

the Jews (a people, tribe) — a tribal proper name; treated as feminine and imperfectly declinable, though the article can be prefixed (اليهود) standing for اليهوديّون
Jewish; of or belonging to the Jews — reflects the adjectival use given in the source gloss, closely tied to the related-noun form يَهُودِيّ

يَهُودُ names the Jewish people as a tribe and is grammatically a proper noun (feminine, imperfectly declinable); it is also used with the article, اليَهُودُ, standing for اليَهُودِيُّونَ. Lane's notes a debated origin: some say it is an arabicized form of يَهُوذُ (Judah), while others derive it from هَادَ "he repented," linking the name to the root's sense of returning or repenting.

Words from the same root

هَادَto repent and return to the truth; also, to become a Jew
هوّدُهto make someone a Jew; to convert and raise him in that religion
هاودهُto make peace with someone; to reconcile with him
تَهَوَّدَto become a Jew; also, to walk gently, imitating the Jews' manner
هَوَادَةٌgentleness, lenity; inclination toward reconciliation or peace
يَهُودِىٌّa Jew; Jewish (the relative-noun/demonym form)

Common questions

How do you say "Jewish" in Arabic?: يَهُود (yahūd) — properly the collective/tribal name "the Jews"; the more specifically adjectival form for "Jewish" is يَهُودِيّ (yahūdiyy).
What does the root ه و د (h-w-d) mean?: At its core it carries the sense of returning or repenting, and by extension being gentle or quiet; from the same root, هَادَ also came to mean "to become a Jew."

Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).

Example sentences

افترت اليهود والنصارى وجاحد القرآن أخس،
The Jews and Christians fabricated, and the denier of the Quran is more vile.
اليَهُودُ — the Jews. The al- makes this definite, 'the Jews'. It is the subject of the verb 'fabricated' just before it, and as the doer it carries the -u subject ending.
From: God's Attributes →

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