Arabic colour words have different forms for use with masculine singular, feminine singular and masculine or feminine plural nouns.
Key abbreviations: m = masculine, f = feminine, sg = singular, pl = plural
pl (sūd) سود |
f/sg (sawdāʾ) سوداء |
m/sg - (aswad) أسود - black
pl (bīḍ) بيض |
f/sg (bayḍāʾ) بيضاء |
m/sg - (ʾabyaḍ) أبيض - white
pl (ḥumr) حمر |
f/sg (ḥamrāʾ) حمراء |
m/sg (ʾaḥmar) أحمر - red
pl (ṣufr) صفر |
f/sg (ṣafrāʾ) صفراء |
m/sg (ʾaṣfar) أصفر - yellow
pl (zurq) زرق |
f/sg (zarqāʾ) زرقاء |
m/sg (ʾazraq) أزرق - blue
pl (ḫuḍr) خضر |
f/sg (ḫaḍrāʾ) خضراء |
m/sg (ʾaḫḍar) أخضر - green
"coffee bean" = (bunnī) بني - brown
"rose" = (wardī) وردي /
(qarnafli) قرنفلي / (ʾaḥmar wardī) أحمر وردي
- pink
"orange (fruit)" =
(burtuqālī) برتقالي - orange
commonly used - "ash" =
(ramādī) رمادي - grey
used only for horses - pl (šuhb) شهب | f/sg (šahbāʾ) شهباء | m/sg (ʾašhab) أشهب - grey
indigo = (nili) نيلي /
lilac/purple = (laylaki) ليلكي /
(ʾarǧwānī) أرجواني - purple
Notes on Arabic colours by Benjamin Yang
Information about Arabic | Phrases | Numbers | Video lessons | Tower of Babel | Articles | Links | Learning materials | Books about the Arabic script | Arabic electronic dictionaries and translators
Colour words in other languages
Why not share this page:
If you need to type in many different languages, the Q International Keyboard can help. It enables you to type almost any language that uses the Latin, Cyrillic or Greek alphabets, and is free.
If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.
Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com
Copyright © 1998–2021 Simon Ager | Email: 
| Hosted by Kualo
