أستاذ
ʔustāḏ/ʔus.taːð/
The Arabic word for professor is أستاذ (ʔustāḏ).
أستاذ refers to a teacher or faculty member at a college or university, regardless of their formal academic rank. In many Arabic-speaking contexts, it is also used more generally as a respectful title for any educated person or teacher.
Meaning: teacher or faculty member at a college or university, regardless of formal rank (noun)
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
أستاذ is a polite term that can be used to address a man in a professional or respectful social setting, similar to how one might use 'Sir' or 'Mr.' in English.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, أُسْتَاذ is frequently used in formal and academic settings.
How does it change in a sentence?
The broken plural form of أستاذ is أساتذة.
How do you pronounce it?
The word is pronounced /ʔus.taːð/ (ʔustāḏ). It has two syllables.
When do people say it?
Beyond its academic meaning, أستاذ serves as a respectful way to acknowledge a person's education or status in social interactions.
Did you know?
- Because of its Persian roots, the word shares a common ancestor with the English word 'ustad', which is used in many South Asian languages to mean 'master' or 'teacher'.
- In some contexts, the term can be used slightly ironically or pointedly to address someone who is acting overly pedantic or 'teaching' others unnecessarily.
- While أستاذ denotes a teacher, the term مُعَلِّم is more commonly used for primary or secondary school teachers, creating a social distinction between basic schooling and higher education.
Examples in context
- توم هو أستاذ ماري.Tom is Mary's professor.This sentence is useful for showing the possessive relationship involving أستاذ.Tatoeba #7739639 by MisterBrown, translation #7737827 by CK
- أصبح زيري أستاذا.Ziri became a professor.This sentence is useful for describing a change in profession using أستاذ.Tatoeba #11644887 by dididodo, translation #10209791 by Amastan
- الأستاذة سارة هي أستاذة متميزة في اللغة العربية.Professor Sara is an excellent professor of the Arabic language.
- الأستاذ الجديد يُدرِّسُ في قسم الهندسة الكهربائية.The new professor teaches in the Department of Electrical Engineering.
- البروفيسور ليث هو مدرّس ممتاز في علوم الكمبيوتر.Professor Layth is an excellent computer science teacher.
- هو أستاذ في الجامعة.huwa ustadh fi al-jami'a.He is a professor at the university.
Example conversation
Ahmed and Nour are talking about a college course.
- أحمد Ahmedهل أستاذ المادة طيب؟hal ustadh al-madda tayyib?Is the subject professor kind?
- نور Nourنعم، هو أستاذ رائع.na'am, huwa ustadh ra'i'.Yes, he is a wonderful professor.
- أحمد Ahmedهل يطلب الكثير من الواجبات؟hal yatlub al-kathir min al-wajibat?Does he ask for a lot of homework?
- نور Nourلا، هو أستاذ متعاون جداً.la, huwa ustadh muta'awin jiddan.No, he is a very helpful professor.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry أستاذ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
