--- title: "Arabic Loanwords in Indonesian, Malay and Urdu, by Root | Fasaha" description: "Kitab, ilmu, کتاب, علم: Arabic words in Indonesian, Malay and Urdu grouped by root, with sourced counts and the words whose meaning drifted." canonical: "https://fasaha.app/blog/arabic-loanwords-indonesian-malay-urdu" language: "en" direction: "ltr" --- # Arabic Loanwords in Indonesian, Malay and Urdu, by Root Kitab, ilmu, کتاب, علم: Arabic words in Indonesian, Malay and Urdu grouped by root, with sourced counts and the words whose meaning drifted. Published 2026-09-25 · Written by Amaan ## Which Arabic words do Indonesian, Malay and Urdu speakers already know? Hundreds of everyday words: kitab and کتاب (book), ilmu and علم (knowledge), waktu and وقت (time), Jumat and جمعہ (Friday). Published counts disagree, so treat any single figure with care. The useful step is grouping these words by Arabic root: كِتَاب sits beside مَكْتَب and كَاتِب, and the grouping also exposes the words whose meaning changed. Published counts conflict: the Indonesian and Malay Wikipedia lists give the same 2,000–3,000 words but different percentages, 40–60% and 10–15%, without a source. Grouping loanwords by Arabic root turns recognition into reading: كِتَاب, مَكْتَب, كَاتِب and مَكْتَبَة all come from the root ك·ت·ب. Some shared words drifted: Indonesian kalimat usually means a sentence, while Arabic كَلِمَة is a single word; Urdu لغت is first a dictionary, while Arabic لُغَة is a language. Sound changes hide roots: Malay kalam covers both كَلَام (speech) and قَلَم (pen), two different Arabic roots, and Urdu pronounces ث, س and ص all as s. Many Urdu words from Arabic came through Classical Persian, so a meaning may have shifted before the word reached Urdu. Recognising a loanword is a head start, not reading: Arabic text still needs vowels, word patterns and case endings. ## How many Arabic words are in Indonesian, Malay and Urdu? Nobody can give one reliable number, because the published counts measure different things. For Indonesian and Malay the most quoted estimate is 2,000 to 3,000 words of Arabic origin. For Urdu, the Quran Academy in Lahore estimates that about 500 of the Qurʼan’s roughly 2,000 base words are spoken and understood in Urdu. The Indonesian–Malay figure opens both the Indonesian and the Malay Wikipedia lists of Arabic loanwords, and the two editions then disagree about what it amounts to: 40 to 60 per cent on the Indonesian page, 10 to 15 per cent on the Malay one. Neither names a source, and the LBI FIB UI language centre repeats the higher figure without one. A list credited to Indonesia’s language agency, Badan Bahasa, and reproduced on English Wikipedia counts 1,495 Arabic loanwords, fewer than from Dutch (3,280) or English (1,610). The numbers differ because the units differ: dictionary headwords, frequency in running text, or, for the Qurʼan, word forms, lemmas or roots. The Quranic Arabic Corpus analyses 77,430 words and lists 3,680 lemmas, a different unit from the Lahore academy’s 2,000 base words. This article gives no percentage of its own. ## Why group loanwords by Arabic root? An Arabic root is a set of consonants, usually three, that carries a core meaning, and most words are built by fitting that root into a pattern, the wazan. Grouping loanwords by root shows you Arabic words you have never studied but can already half-read, because you already own one member of their family. Take ك·ت·ب, the root of writing. Speakers of all three languages know kitab or کتاب. In Fasaha’s dictionary the same root holds كَتَبَ (he wrote), كَاتِب (writer), مَكْتُوب (written; a letter), كِتَابَة (writing), مَكْتَبَة (library) and مَكْتَب (office; desk). The Quranic Arabic Corpus counts the root 319 times in the Qurʼan, 260 of them as كِتَاب. The root ع·ل·م does the same work at a larger scale. Indonesian and Malay have ilmu and maklumat; Urdu has علم, عالم, معلومات and تعلیم; Arabic places all of them in one family with عَلِمَ (to know) and مُعَلِّم (teacher). A study of Arabic words in Malay by Mohd. Alwee Yusoff in Jurnal Usuluddin makes the same point about alim, ulama, ilmu, maklum and maklumat: all derive from one verb and belong under one letter, ع. ## Where the meaning drifted: false friends in three languages A false friend is a loanword that looks like its Arabic source but means something else. The drift is usually traceable rather than random: a word narrowed to a religious sense, widened to cover more, or slid to a neighbouring meaning. It matters because the Arabic meaning is the one you will meet on the page. Sentence and word are the clearest case. The Indonesian dictionary KBBI gives a complete utterance, a sentence, as the first sense of kalimat and “word” only second, while Arabic كَلِمَة is a single word; an Arabic sentence is جُمْلَة, which Urdu kept unchanged as جملہ. Malay went its own way: kalimah still means a word, mostly in kalimah syahadah, and a sentence is ayat, from Arabic آيَة, a sign or a verse of the Qurʼan. Language itself drifted. Arabic لُغَة means language; Indonesian logat and Malay loghat mean a dialect or an accent, and Urdu لغت is first of all a dictionary. The Arabic word for a dialect is a different one, لَهْجَة. Judges drifted too: Indonesian and Malay hakim is the officer who tries a case, Urdu حکیم is first a physician, and Arabic حَكِيم means wise. The Quranic Arabic Corpus counts حَكِيم 97 times. An Arabic court judge is a قَاضِي. - kitab — any book in Arabic; in everyday Indonesian it has narrowed towards religious books, according to a 2024 study in the journal Armala. - adab — manners and good character in Indonesian (KBBI); Arabic أَدَب also means literature, a sense Urdu ادب keeps. - maklumat — in Indonesian first a notice or announcement (KBBI); Arabic مَعْلُومَات is information. ## Sound changes that hide the root Loanwords were fitted to the sounds of the receiving language, and some of those changes erase the letter that tells you the root. Learning the common changes lets you rebuild the Arabic spelling from the word you already say, the skill you need to find a word in an Arabic dictionary arranged by root. Indonesian writes pikir where Malay writes fikir and Urdu فکر, all from فِكْر. Indonesian kabar sits beside Malay khabar and Urdu خبر, from خَبَر. Kalbu, in both Indonesian and Malay, comes from قَلْب (heart). Some words moved so far that only a reference book shows the link: perlu (necessary) goes back to Arabic فَرْض (obligation), through Javanese according to Wiktionary, and Malay petua (a practical tip) goes back to فَتْوَى, a formal legal opinion. Turning ق into k can merge two roots in one word. The Jurnal Usuluddin study notes that Malay kalam covers the word of God, a writing tool and gold-bearing black sand, while Arabic keeps كَلَام (speech, root ك·ل·م) and قَلَم (pen, root ق·ل·م) apart. Urdu has the opposite problem, in speech but not in spelling: according to the Urdu alphabet table on Wikipedia it pronounces ث, س and ص all as s, and ذ, ز, ض and ظ all as z, yet writes each word with its Arabic letter, so the root survives on the page. ## Singular or plural: huruf, ulama and حروف Several loanwords entered as Arabic plurals and are used as singulars. That matters the first time you meet the Arabic singular, because it will look unfamiliar even though you have used its plural all your life. The two commonest cases are letters of the alphabet and religious scholars. Indonesian and Malay huruf, a letter of the alphabet, comes from Arabic حُرُوف, the plural of حَرْف, according to Wiktionary. Urdu kept both: حرف for one letter and حروف in حروفِ تہجی, the alphabet. Ulama, which KBBI defines as a person expert in Islamic knowledge, is Arabic عُلَمَاء, the plural of عَالِم; the Jurnal Usuluddin study objects to using it for one person for exactly this reason. The practical fix is to learn the singular and the plural as a pair. ## Why many Urdu words came through Persian Urdu took much of its Arabic vocabulary from Classical Persian rather than straight from Arabic. Wiktionary traces Urdu لغت, حکیم, مکتب, ادب and both senses of عالم to Classical Persian, which had borrowed them from Arabic. A meaning can therefore have shifted in Persian before the word ever reached Urdu. This explains words that look Arabic but behave differently. Wiktionary lists Urdu دفتر (office) as a borrowing from Persian; in Arabic دَفْتَر is a notebook or a register, and an Arabic office is a مَكْتَب. Urdu مکتب, meanwhile, is a school, a primary school or a school of thought. An Urdu reader who meets مَكْتَب in a modern Arabic article should read it as office or desk. Persian mediation also kept Urdu spelling conservative: the words arrived with their Arabic letters, so عالم is written the same whether it means world (عَالَم) or scholar (عَالِم). In Arabic the vowel marks separate the two, which is one reason Arabic reading practice starts with harakat. ## What a loanword head start does and does not give you Knowing loanwords shortens the road to reading Arabic, but it does not replace grammar or vowels. You will recognise nouns in a sentence sooner than a learner starting from nothing. You still need the word patterns, the case endings and the small particles that join those nouns into a statement. Recognition also carries a trap: the meaning you bring may be the drifted one. Read the Arabic sentence first, decide what each familiar word means in Arabic, then compare. Words such as كَلِمَة, لُغَة, حَكِيم and مَكْتَب are where a quick glance goes wrong. Fasaha is built for this step. Every Arabic word in its stories, podcasts, videos and articles opens into its meaning, root, pattern and family, so a word you already know leads straight to its relatives, and you can save it for spaced review. Fasaha teaches Modern Standard Arabic and classical texts; it does not teach spoken dialects, tajwīd or tafsīr. ## Ten shared loanwords and the Arabic family behind each Each card gives the word as Indonesian, Malay and Urdu write it, in that order, then the Arabic form from Fasaha’s dictionary with its original meaning, its root and one or two relatives. 1. kitab · kitab · کتاب: كِتَاب — book 2. ilmu · ilmu · علم: عِلْم — knowledge, science 3. maklumat · maklumat · معلومات: مَعْلُومَات — information 4. salam · salam · سلام: سَلَام — peace; greeting 5. madrasah · madrasah · مدرسہ: مَدْرَسَة — school 6. Jumat · Jumaat · جمعہ: جُمُعَة — Friday 7. hikmah · hikmah · حکمت: حِكْمَة — wisdom 8. musafir · musafir · مسافر: مُسَافِر — traveller 9. rahmat · rahmat · رحمت: رَحْمَة — mercy 10. hewan · haiwan · حیوان: حَيَوَان — animal Twelve Arabic words shared by Indonesian, Malay and Urdu, with their roots | Indonesian | Malay | Urdu | Arabic | Root | Arabic meaning | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | kitab | kitab | کتاب | كِتَاب | ك·ت·ب | book | | ilmu | ilmu | علم | عِلْم | ع·ل·م | knowledge, science | | maklumat | maklumat | معلومات | مَعْلُومَات | ع·ل·م | information | | madrasah | madrasah | مدرسہ | مَدْرَسَة | د·ر·س | school | | Jumat | Jumaat | جمعہ | جُمُعَة | ج·م·ع | Friday | | hukum | hukum | حکم | حُكْم | ح·ك·م | judgement; rule | | hikmah | hikmah | حکمت | حِكْمَة | ح·ك·م | wisdom | | pikir | fikir | فکر | فِكْر | ف·ك·ر | thought; idea | | kabar | khabar | خبر | خَبَر | خ·ب·ر | news | | hewan | haiwan | حیوان | حَيَوَان | ح·ي·ي | animal | | musafir | musafir | مسافر | مُسَافِر | س·ف·ر | traveller | | rahmat | rahmat | رحمت | رَحْمَة | ر·ح·م | mercy | ## Words you already know - kitab ← كِتَاب (book) - kalimat ← كَلِمَة (word) - ilmu ← عِلْم (knowledge, science) - waktu ← وَقْت (time) - dunia ← دُنْيَا (the world; this life) - sabar ← صَبْر (patience) - jawab ← جَوَاب (answer) - soal ← سُؤَال (question) - akal ← عَقْل (mind, reason) - pikir ← فِكْر (thought; idea) - hikayat ← حِكَايَة (tale, story) - insan ← إِنْسَان (human being) - hadiah ← هَدِيَّة (gift) - syukur ← شُكْر (thanks) - salam ← سَلَام (peace; greeting) - zaman ← زَمَان (time, era) - madrasah ← مَدْرَسَة (school) - Jumat ← جُمُعَة (Friday) - hakim ← حَكِيم (wise person; sage) - hikmah ← حِكْمَة (wisdom) - hukum ← حُكْم (judgement; rule) - mahkamah ← مَحْكَمَة (court) - kabar ← خَبَر (news, piece of news) - adab ← أَدَب (literature; manners) - makna ← مَعْنَى (meaning) - umur ← عُمْر (age; lifetime) - musafir ← مُسَافِر (traveller) - rahmat ← رَحْمَة (mercy) - alam ← عَالَم (world) - maklumat ← مَعْلُومَات (information) - kalbu ← قَلْب (heart) - hewan ← حَيَوَان (animal) - huruf ← حَرْف (letter (of the alphabet)) - harakat ← حَرَكَة (movement; antic) - logat ← لُغَة (language) - zaitun ← زَيْتُون (olives) ### How many Indonesian words come from Arabic? Estimates run from 1,495 to about 3,000 depending on the list. A list credited to Badan Bahasa counts 1,495; the Indonesian and Malay Wikipedia lists and the LBI FIB UI language centre give 2,000 to 3,000. The percentages attached to those figures conflict and cite no source, so quote a range, not a percentage. ### Is Malay kalimah the same as Indonesian kalimat? Both come from Arabic كَلِمَة, but they now differ. Indonesian kalimat usually means a sentence. Malay kalimah keeps the Arabic meaning, a word, mostly in set phrases such as kalimah syahadah, and Malay says ayat for a sentence. Arabic itself uses جُمْلَة for a sentence. ### Do Urdu speakers already know Qurʼanic Arabic? They know many of its nouns. The Quran Academy in Lahore estimates that about 500 of roughly 2,000 base words are used in Urdu. Knowing nouns is not reading: particles, verb forms and case endings carry the grammar, and some shared words, such as حَكِيم, mean something different in Arabic. ### Will loanwords help me read Arabic without harakat? They help you recognise nouns, which is part of reading unvowelled text. The rest comes from structure: once you know a word’s pattern you know its internal vowels, and the grammar of the sentence sets the final ones. Loanwords give you roots; patterns and case endings come next. ## Sources - [Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia — Daftar kata serapan dari bahasa Arab dalam bahasa Indonesia](https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daftar\_kata\_serapan\_dari\_bahasa\_Arab\_dalam\_bahasa\_Indonesia) - [Wikipedia bahasa Melayu — Senarai kata pinjaman dari bahasa Arab dalam bahasa Melayu dan bahasa Indonesia](https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senarai\_kata\_pinjaman\_dari\_bahasa\_Arab\_dalam\_bahasa\_Melayu\_dan\_bahasa\_Indonesia) - [LBI FIB UI — Kata Serapan dalam Bahasa Indonesia: Bahasa Arab (15 Oktober 2024)](https://lbifib.ui.ac.id/id/blog/artikel/kata-serapan-dalam-bahasa-indonesia-bahasa-arab) - [Wikipedia — Indonesian language (loanword table credited to Badan Bahasa)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian\_language) - [Quran Academy Lahore — ترجمہ قرآن حکیم کورس](https://www.quranacademylahore.com/tq/) - [Wikipedia — Quranic Arabic Corpus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quranic\_Arabic\_Corpus) - [Quranic Arabic Corpus — Lemmas by frequency](https://corpus.quran.com/lemmas.jsp) - [Quranic Arabic Corpus — root ك ت ب](https://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=ktb) - [Quranic Arabic Corpus — root ح ك م](https://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=Hkm) - [KBBI (via kbbi.web.id) — kalimat](https://kbbi.web.id/kalimat) - [KBBI (via kbbi.web.id) — adab](https://kbbi.web.id/adab) - [KBBI (via kbbi.web.id) — maklumat](https://kbbi.web.id/maklumat) - [KBBI (via kbbi.web.id) — ulama](https://kbbi.web.id/ulama) - [Muiz, M. A. & Nu’man, M. (2024). Perubahan Makna pada Kata Serapan Bahasa Arab dalam Bahasa Indonesia. Armala 5(2)](https://e-journal.iainptk.ac.id/index.php/armala/article/view/3698) - [Mohd. Alwee Yusoff. Perkataan Arab dalam Bahasa Melayu: Satu Tinjauan dari Aspek Semantik. Jurnal Usuluddin 23–24, Universiti Malaya](https://ejournal.um.edu.my/index.php/JUD/article/download/4257/2103/10321) - [Wiktionary — kalimah (Malay)](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kalimah) - [Wiktionary — ayat (Malay, Indonesian)](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ayat) - [Wiktionary — perlu (Malay, Indonesian)](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/perlu) - [Wiktionary — petua (Malay)](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/petua) - [Wiktionary — huruf (Malay, Indonesian)](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/huruf) - [Wiktionary — لغت (Urdu)](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D9%84%D8%BA%D8%AA) - [Wiktionary — حکیم (Urdu)](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D8%AD%DA%A9%DB%8C%D9%85) - [Wiktionary — مکتب (Urdu)](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D9%85%DA%A9%D8%AA%D8%A8) - [Wiktionary — دفتر (Urdu, Arabic)](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D8%AF%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%B1) - [Wiktionary — عالم (Urdu)](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85) - [Wiktionary — ادب (Urdu)](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A8) - [Wikipedia — Urdu alphabet (letter sounds)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urdu\_alphabet) ## About Fasaha Fasaha is a reading-first Arabic app. Every word in a story, a podcast, a video or an article opens into its meaning, root, pattern and family, and can be saved for spaced review. - Available on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android. - Interface languages: English, Arabic, Turkish, Russian, Uzbek, Spanish, French, German, Indonesian, Malay and Urdu. - Free to start; Premium opens the complete library and the stores handle billing.