عِلْم اَلْأَحْيَاء
ʕilm al-ʔaḥyāʔmasculine
Biology in Arabic is عِلْم اَلْأَحْيَاء (ʕilm al-ʔaḥyāʔ). Wiktionary also lists بِيُولُوجِيَا (biyulūjiyā).
Meaning: study of living matter (noun)
Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| عِلْم اَلْأَحْيَاء | ʕilm al-ʔaḥyāʔ | masculine |
| بِيُولُوجِيَا | biyulūjiyā | feminine |
The term refers to the study of living matter.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase عِلْم اَلْأَحْيَاء is composed of عِلْم, meaning science and اَلْأَحْيَاء, meaning the living beings or living things.
Which one should you use?
عِلْم اَلْأَحْيَاء is the standard Arabic term, whereas بِيُولُوجِيَا is a transliterated loanword.
How does it change in a sentence?
The transliterated form بِيُولُوجِيَا is a feminine noun. In contrast, the native term عِلْم اَلْأَحْيَاء is treated as a masculine noun because it is governed by the word عِلْم (science).
How do you pronounce it?
ʕilm al-ʔaḥyāʔ
Did you know?
- The term أَحْيَاء can also refer to 'neighborhoods' in some contexts, though in biology it strictly means 'living things'.
- The word أَحْيَاء shares the same root as the word for 'life' and 'alive', but it is also the root for the word meaning 'revival' or 'resurrection'.
- The term عِلْم اَلْأَحْيَاء follows an 'idafa' construction, a grammatical structure that links two nouns to show possession or specification without using a word for 'of'.
Examples in context
- أنا أدرس عِلْم اَلْأَحْيَاء في الجامعة.ana adrusu 'ilm al-ahya' fi al-jami'a.I study biology at the university.
- عِلْم اَلْأَحْيَاء مادة ممتعة جداً.'ilm al-ahya' madda mumti'a jiddan.Biology is a very interesting subject.
- هل تحب عِلْم اَلْأَحْيَاء؟hal tuhibbu 'ilm al-ahya'?Do you love biology?
Example conversation
Two students are talking about their university courses in a hallway.
- سارة Saraما هي مادتك المفضلة يا أحمد؟ma hiya maddatuka al-mufaddala ya Ahmad?What is your favorite subject, Ahmad?
- أحمد Ahmedأنا أحب عِلْم اَلْأَحْيَاء كثيراً.ana uhibbu 'ilm al-ahya' kathiran.I love biology a lot.
- سارة Saraهذا رائع، هو تخصص صعب.hadha ra'i', huwa takhassus sa'b.That's great, it is a difficult major.
- أحمد Ahmedنعم، لكنه ممتع بالنسبة لي.na'am, lakinahu mumti' binisba li.Yes, but it is interesting to me.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “biology” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
