Arabic Word List for Kids
106 words in Arabic script, with how to say them and what they mean
This page exists for a specific moment: your child says an Arabic word, or you find one written in a book, and you want to know what it means without opening a dictionary built for adults. Every word here is one a young child actually meets — nothing academic, nothing you would never say out loud.
The middle column is the transliteration — the word written in Latin letters so you can say it before you can read the script. It is a guide, not a rule: Arabic has sounds English does not, and a few of them can only be approximated this way. Where a word matters and the sound is hard, the alphabet guide explains how to make it properly.
Colours
Arabic colour words are adjectives, so they change ending to match what they describe — أحمر for a masculine noun, حمراء for a feminine one. The form below is the one a child learns first and the one they will hear pointed at a red car.
| Arabic | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| أحمر | ahmar | red |
| أزرق | azraq | blue |
| أخضر | akhdar | green |
| أصفر | asfar | yellow |
| برتقالي | burtuqaali | orange |
| بنفسجي | banafsaji | purple |
Numbers 1–10
The numeral and the word for it are two separate things to learn. 3 is the shape; ثلاثة (thalaatha) is what you say. Children usually get the words long before the shapes.
| Arabic | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| واحد | waahid | one (1) |
| اثنان | ithnaan | two (2) |
| ثلاثة | thalaatha | three (3) |
| أربعة | arbaʿa | four (4) |
| خمسة | khamsa | five (5) |
| ستة | sitta | six (6) |
| سبعة | sabʿa | seven (7) |
| ثمانية | thamaaniya | eight (8) |
| تسعة | tisʿa | nine (9) |
| عشرة | ʿashara | ten (10) |
Animals
Animal names are the fastest vocabulary to make stick, because a child already knows the thing and is only learning a second label for it.
| Arabic | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| أسد | asad | lion |
| أرنب | arnab | rabbit |
| فيل | fiil | elephant |
| قرد | qird | monkey |
| قطة | qitta | cat |
| كلب | kalb | dog |
| عصفور | ʿusfuur | bird |
| سمكة | samaka | fish |
Everyday words
The example words from the alphabet guide — one or two for every letter, chosen so that each letter arrives attached to something a child can picture rather than as an abstract shape.
| Arabic | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| أسد | asad | lion |
| أرنب | arnab | rabbit |
| باب | baab | door |
| بطة | baTTa | duck |
| برتقال | burtuqaal | orange (fruit) |
| تفاحة | tuffaaHa | apple |
| تمر | tamr | dates |
| تاج | taaj | crown |
| ثعلب | thaʿlab | fox |
| ثلج | thalj | snow |
| ثوب | thawb | robe / dress |
| جمل | jamal | camel |
| جبل | jabal | mountain |
| جزر | jazar | carrots |
| حوت | Huut | whale |
| حصان | HiSaan | horse |
| حليب | Haliib | milk |
| خروف | kharuuf | sheep |
| خبز | khubz | bread |
| خيمة | khayma | tent |
| دب | dubb | bear |
| ديك | diik | rooster |
| دجاجة | dajaaja | hen |
| ذئب | dhiʾb | wolf |
| ذرة | dhura | corn |
| ذهب | dhahab | gold |
| ريشة | riisha | feather |
| ربيع | rabiiʿ | spring (season) |
| زرافة | zaraafa | giraffe |
| زهرة | zahra | flower |
| زيتون | zaytuun | olives |
| سمكة | samaka | fish |
| سيارة | sayyaara | car |
| سماء | samaaʾ | sky |
| شمس | shams | sun |
| شجرة | shajara | tree |
| شاي | shaay | tea |
| صقر | Saqr | falcon |
| صندوق | Sanduuq | box |
| صابون | Saabuun | soap |
| ضفدع | Difdaʿ | frog |
| ضوء | Dawʾ | light |
| ضرس | Dirs | molar (tooth) |
| طائرة | Taaʾira | airplane |
| طبل | Tabl | drum |
| طماطم | TamaaTim | tomatoes |
| ظبي | Zaby | gazelle |
| ظل | Zill | shadow |
| ظرف | Zarf | envelope |
| عين | ʿayn | eye |
| عسل | ʿasal | honey |
| عنب | ʿinab | grapes |
| غزال | ghazaal | gazelle |
| غيمة | ghayma | cloud |
| غراب | ghuraab | crow |
| فيل | fiil | elephant |
| فراشة | faraasha | butterfly |
| فأر | faʾr | mouse |
| قمر | qamar | moon |
| قطة | qiTTa | cat |
| قلم | qalam | pen |
| كتاب | kitaab | book |
| كلب | kalb | dog |
| كرة | kura | ball |
| ليمون | laymuun | lemon |
| لبن | laban | milk / yogurt |
| لعبة | luʿba | toy / game |
| موز | mawz | banana |
| ماء | maaʾ | water |
| مفتاح | miftaaH | key |
| نحلة | naHla | bee |
| نجمة | najma | star |
| نمر | namir | tiger |
| هدهد | hudhud | hoopoe (bird) |
| هلال | hilaal | crescent |
| هدية | hadiyya | gift |
| وردة | warda | rose / flower |
| ولد | walad | boy |
| نور | nuur | light (waw stretched) |
| يد | yad | hand |
| يمامة | yamaama | dove |
| ياسمين | yaasamiin | jasmine |
How to use a list like this
Do not work through it. A word list is a reference, not a syllabus, and a child asked to memorise a hundred words will learn to dislike all of them. Use it the way you would use a dictionary — when a specific word comes up and somebody wants to know.
When you do teach a word deliberately, teach it attached to the thing. The colour words stick because there is something red in every room; the animal words stick because the child already knows the animal. Abstract words at this age slide off.
Hear these words, or write them
A written list only gets you halfway — Arabic has sounds that cannot be spelled in English letters. These pages have the recordings and the practice sheets.