How to say "literature" in Arabic
New wordMeaningliterature
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
أَدَب
adabאדב
أدب
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
ספרות
sifrutسِفْرُوت
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
أ-د-بAdab first meant 'good manners, refinement' — literature was what a cultured person was expected to know — and both senses live on (qillat adab, 'rudeness'). Hebrew ספרות is built on ספר, 'book'.
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In a phrase
الْأَدَب الْعَرَبِيّ
al-adab al-ʿarabīאל-אדב אל-ערביArabic literature
Plural
آدَاب
ādābאדאבbroken plural afʿāl; 'manners', and 'the humanities' (kulliyyat al-ādāb, faculty of arts).