Meats: لحوم

Keeping with a food theme, here are Arabic words for some common meats. This is a fairly straightforward list, since as we do in English for everything except beef, Arabic uses the same vocabulary for the meat as it does for the animal it came from. I’m including a few non-halal (حلال, “permitted,” akin to “Kosher” if you like) meats, because (and this should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway) not everybody who speaks Arabic is a Muslim.

Have I missed your favorite? Leave it in comments and I’ll add it!

Meat, لَحم (laḥm):

  • Beef: لحم بَقَر (laḥm baqar, “meat of a cow”), لحم بَقَري (laḥm baqarī)
    • Hamburger: هامبرغر (hāmburghar)
    • Steak: شَريحة لحم (sharīḥat laḥm, literally “slice of meat”)
    • Veal: لحم عَجل (laḥm ʿajl)

NOTE: you can use either form (with or without that final ي) for all of these, so I’m only going to mention both forms here at the beginning

  • Chicken: لحم دَجاج (laḥm dajāj), though you may also see the Turkish طاووق (ṭāwūq) or the Egyptian colloquial فراخ (firākh)
  • Turkey: لحم ديك رومي (laḥm dīk rūmī)
  • Lamb: لحم خُروف (laḥm khurūf)
    • Mutton: لحم ضأن (laḥm ḍaʾn)
  • Goat: لحم ماعِز (laḥm māʿiz)
  • Camel: لحم إبل (laḥm ibl)

NOTE: there are a lot of different Arabic words for different kinds of camel, but إبل is the most generic and so it is best for this context.

  • Pork: لحم خَنزير (laḥm khanzīr)
    • Ham: لحم خَنزير again, or لحم خَنزير مُدَخَّن (laḥm khanzīr mudakhkhan, “smoked pork”)
  • Bacon (halal bacon can be made from turkey, beef, even fish, provided it’s prepared in the correct way): بَيكون (baykūn)
    • Pork bacon can be called لحم خنزير مُقَدَّد (laḥm khanzīr muqaddad), or “crunchy pork”
  • Sausage (again, halal sausages can be made with beef, turkey, lamb, chicken, etc.): سُجُق (sujuq, from the Turkish sucuk) or نَقانِق (naqāniq), which can also be spelled مَقانِق (maqāniq)
  • Fish: لحم سَمَك (laḥm samak)
    • Salmon: سَلمون (salmūn)
    • Tuna: تونة (tūnah)
  • Lobster: لحم كَركَند (laḥm karkand)
  • Shrimp: لحم جَمبَري (laḥm jambarī)
  • Crab: لحم سََلطَعون (laḥm salṭaʿūn)
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