مِصْرِيّ
miṣriyy
In Arabic, 'egyptian' is مِصْرِيّ (miṣriyy). Wiktionary also lists مِصْرِيَّة (miṣriyya).
Meaning: person from Egypt (noun)
Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| مِصْرِيّ | miṣriyy | |
| مِصْرِيَّة | miṣriyya | feminine |
The term is used to describe a person from Egypt. It can also function as an adjective meaning 'of, from or pertaining to Egypt'. Additionally, the word can refer to the Egyptian language, in which case the forms مِصْرِيَّة or مَصْرِيَّة are used.
Which one should you use?
The masculine form مِصْرِيّ is used to refer to a male Egyptian or as the default adjective for masculine nouns. In contrast, the feminine form مِصْرِيَّة is used to refer to a female Egyptian.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In colloquial speech, you may hear the form Maṣri used to mean 'Egyptian'.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
miṣriyy
Did you know?
- In many Arabic-speaking regions, the word مِصْر 'Misr' is not just the name for the country, but was historically used to mean any great, fortified city or metropolis.
- The word مِصْرِيّ uses a grammatical feature called a shadda, which visually doubles the final consonant to transform the noun 'Egypt' into the adjective 'Egyptian'.
- While مِصْرِيّ describes a person or adjective, Egyptians often refer to their spoken language as عامية 'Ammiya', which literally means 'the common speech'.
Examples in context
- أنا شخص مصريI am an Egyptian person
- أهل مصر لديهم تاريخ غنيThe people of Egypt have a rich history
- سكان بلاد مصر مضيافون جداًThe people of the country of Egypt are very hospitable
- مصريينMultiple Egyptians
- أعرف شخصًا مصريًّا لطيفًاI know a nice Egyptian person.
- يزور العديد من السياح مزارات مصرMany tourists visit Egypt's attractions.
Example conversation
Two people are meeting for the first time at a conference.
- مريم Maryamأهلاً يا عمر، من أين أنت؟Ahlan ya Omar, min ayna anta?Hello Omar, where are you from?
- عمر Omarأهلاً مريم، أنا مِصْرِيّ.Ahlan Maryam, ana misriyy.Hello Maryam, I am Egyptian.
- مريم Maryamأهلاً بك في المدينة.Ahlan bika fil madina.Welcome to the city.
- عمر Omarشكراً جزيلاً لكِ.Shukran jazilan laki.Thank you very much.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “egyptian” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
