يَهُود Jewish in Arabic
يَهُود is how you say “Jewish” in Arabic.
Root ه و د h-w-d. noun (collective/tribal proper noun); also used adjectivally. yahūd.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
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
Example sentence
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.
The English is machine-translated.

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How it is used
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
- هَادَ to repent and return to the truth; also, to become a Jew
- هوّدُه to make someone a Jew; to convert and raise him in that religion
- هاودهُ to make peace with someone; to reconcile with him
- تَهَوَّدَ to become a Jew; also, to walk gently, imitating the Jews' manner
- هَوَادَةٌ gentleness, lenity; inclination toward reconciliation or peace
- يَهُودِىٌّ a 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."
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).