زَوْجَة
zawjafeminine
The Arabic word for wife is زَوْجَة (zawja). Wiktionary also lists اِمْرَأَة (imraʔa).
Meaning: female partner in a marriage (noun)
Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| زَوْجَة | zawja | feminine |
| اِمْرَأَة | imraʔa | feminine |
In Arabic, the word for a female partner in a marriage is زَوْجَة.
Which one should you use?
While اِمْرَأَة can sometimes be used to refer to a wife in classical or poetic contexts, its primary and most common meaning is simply 'woman'. Use زَوْجَة when you specifically mean 'wife'.
How do you pronounce it?
zawja
Did you know?
- In some Gulf dialects, the word حَرِيم (harim) is used collectively to refer to wives or women of the household, derived from the root meaning 'forbidden' or 'sacred'.
- In some spoken dialects, a man might refer to his wife as الأَهْل (al-ahl), which literally means 'the family' or 'the household'.
- While زَوْجَة is the standard term, in some Levantine dialects, people might use المدام (al-madam) borrowed from French to refer to their wife in social settings.
Examples in context
- هِيَ زَوْجَةٌ مُدَبِّرَةٌ.hiya zawjatun mudabbiratun.She is a resourceful wife.
- أَيْنَ زَوْجَةُ زِيَاد؟ayna zawjatu ziyad?Where is Ziad's wife?
Example conversation
Nour and Ziad are talking about a friend's family.
- نور Nourهل زَوْجَةُ أحمد هنا؟Hal zawjatu Ahmad huna?Is Ahmed's wife here?
- زياد Ziadلا، هي في البيت.La, hiya fil-bayt.No, she is at home.
- نور Nourمتى ستأتي زَوْجَتُهُ؟Mata sata'ti zawjatuhu?When will his wife come?
- زياد Ziadستأتي بعد ساعة.Sata'ti ba'da sa'ah.She will come after an hour.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “wife” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
