مصر

From a common Semitic source; compare Hebrew מִצְרַיִם (miṣráyim), Ugaritic 𐎎𐎕𐎗𐎎 (mṣrm), and Akkadian 𒈪𒄑𒊑𒄿 (miṣru) or 𒈬𒀫 (muṣru). The ending in Hebrew and Ugaritic is the standard dual form, perhaps related to the ancient conceptualization of Egypt as two realms: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Conflated with the root م ص ر (m ṣ r) in some senses (see below).

The sense of Cairo stems from the earlier settlement مِصْرُ الفُسْطَاط (miṣru l-fusṭāṭ, “the Civil Center of Assembly”, literally “of the large camel-hair tents, assembly halls”) that was incorporated into Cairo.

• IPA^(key): /misˤr/

• Audio:

  (file)

مِصْر • (miṣr) f

1. Egypt (a country in North Africa and Western Asia)
2. (dialectal, Egypt) Cairo (the capital and largest city of Egypt)

• مِصْرِيّ (miṣriyy, “Egyptian”)
• مِصْرِيَّة (miṣriyya, “Egyptian woman”)
• مَصَّرَ (maṣṣara, “to Egyptianize”)
• تَمَصَّرَ (tamaṣṣara, “to become Egyptian”)
• مِصْرِيَّة (miṣriyya, “Egyptianism”)

From the root م ص ر (m ṣ r), whose significations may have been partially influenced by the name of the North African region.

مِصْر • (miṣr) m (plural أَمْصَار (ʔamṣār))

1. border, boundary, limit, march, neighboring territory
2. separate area, district, province, city-state
3. big city, metropolis, capital
4. garrison town, a military fort, an incorporated area; a colony often to establish regional control, a civilizing or cultural settlement
   1. (in the dual) Kufa and Basra
   2. (in the dual) Fustat and Kairouan

• مَصَّرَ (maṣṣara, “to found (a city), to settle; to urbanize”)
• تَمَصَّرَ (tamaṣṣara, “to become a city”)

From the root م ص ر (m ṣ r), with senses relating to Egypt deriving directly from مِصْر (miṣr, “Egypt”).

مَصَّرَ • (maṣṣara) II (non-past يُمَصِّرُ (yumaṣṣiru), verbal noun تَمْصِير (tamṣīr))

1. (transitive) to build or found (a city), to settle or people (a region), to colonize; to civilize

   Synonyms: اِسْتَعْمَرَ (istaʕmara), اِسْتَوْطَنَ (istawṭana)

2. (transitive) to make Egyptian, to Egyptianize

• تَمْصِير (tamṣīr, “settlement, civilization, colonization; Egyptianization”)

Derived from the active participle of أَصَرّ (ʔaṣarr, “to persist in”).

مُصِرّ • (muṣirr) (feminine مُصِرَّة (muṣirra), masculine plural مُصِرُّونَ (muṣirrūna), feminine plural مُصِرَّات (muṣirrāt))

1. insistent

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “مصر”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

From Arabic مِصْر (miṣr). The sense of Cairo comes from the earlier settlement مِصْر الْفُسْطَاطِ (miṣr al-fusṭāṭi, “the Civil Center of Assembly”) that was incorporated into Cairo.

• IPA^(key): /masˤr/

مصر • (maṣr) f

1. Egypt (a country in North Africa and Western Asia)
2. (informal) Cairo (the capital city of Egypt)

   Synonym: القاهرة (il-qāhira)

• مصري (maṣri, “Egyptian”)

• → Nobiin: Másser

From Arabic مِصْر (miṣr).

• IPA^(key): /ma.sˤur/, [ma.sˤʊr]

مَصُر • (maṣur) f

1. Egypt (a country in North Africa and Western Asia)

• مَصْري (maṣri)
• مَصْرية (maṣriyya)

From Arabic مُصِرّ (muṣirr).

• IPA^(key): /mu.sˤirr/, [mʊ.sˤɪrr]

مُصِرّ • (muṣirr) (feminine مُصِرَّة (muṣirra), common plural مُصِرِّين (muṣirrīn))

1. persistent
2. determined, insistent

From Arabic مِصْر (miṣr).

• IPA^(key): /misˤr/

مِصْر • (miṣr) f

1. Egypt (a country in North Africa and Western Asia)

• مصري (miṣri)

Borrowed from Arabic مِصْر (miṣr).

مصر • (Mısır)

1. Egypt (a country in North Africa and Western Asia)

• Turkish: Mısır
• → Albanian: Misir
• → Middle Armenian: Մսըր (Msər), Մսր (Msr)
  • Armenian: Մսըր (Msər)
• → Romanian: Misir
• Serbo-Croatian:
  • Latin script: Mìsīr
  • Cyrillic script: Мѝсӣр

مصر • (mısır)

1. maize, corn

• Turkish: mısır
• → Albanian: misër

• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “مصر”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[1], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 1877

From Arabic مِصْر (miṣr).

• (rare) IPA^(key): /mɪsɾ/
• IPA^(key): /mis.ar/

مصر • (misr) m

1. Egypt (a country in North Africa and Western Asia)

Borrowed from Arabic مِصْر (miṣr).

Readings
Classical reading?	misr
Dari reading?	misr
Iranian reading?	mesr
Tajik reading?	misr

مِصْر • (misr / mesr) (Tajik spelling Миср)

1. Egypt (a country in North Africa and Western Asia)
   • 1611, ʿAbd al-Sattār ibn Qāsim Lāhōrī, مجالس جهانگیری [Majālis-i Jahāngīrī]:

     این كمترین مریدان حكایتی از جنگ كردن سلطان صالح‌الدین مصر به فرنگیان كه از غرابت خالی نبوده به عرض اقـدس مـیرسانید.

     īn kamtarīn murīdān hikāyatē az jang kardan-i sultān sālah-ad-dīn-i misr ba farangīyān ki az ġurābat xālī na-būda ba arz-i aqdas mē-rasānīd.

     We humblest servants told a story in his imperial presence about the war that Sultan Saladin of Egypt had waged against the Crusaders, which was not devoid of marvels.

2. (archaic) Cairo (the capital and largest city of Egypt)

• Dari: مِصْر (misr)
• Iranian Persian: مِصْر (mesr)
• Tajik: Миср (Misr)
• → Assamese: মিছৰ (misor), মিচৰ (misor)
• → Bengali: মিশর (miśor), মিসর (miśor)
• → Gujarati: મિસર (misar)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: मिस्र (misra), मिस्त्र (mistra), मिसर (misar)

  Urdu: مِصْر (misr)

• → Kashmiri: مِصر (misr)
• → Kazakh: Мысыр (Mysyr)
• → Marathi: मिसर (misar)
• → Nepali: मिस्र (misra)
• → Odia: ମିଶର (miśara), ମିଶର୍ (miśar), ମିଶ୍ର (miśra)
• → Punjabi:
  • Gurmukhi script: ਮਿਸਰ (misar)
  • Shahmukhi script: مِصَر (miṣar)

Borrowed from Arabic مُصِرّ (muṣirr).

Readings
Classical reading?	mosirr
Dari reading?	mosirr
Iranian reading?	moserr
Tajik reading?	mosirr

مُصِرّ • (moserr)

1. (uncommon, literary) insistent

Borrowed from Arabic مِصْر (miṣr).

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /mɪsəɾə̆/

مِصَر • (miṣar) f (Gurmukhi spelling ਮਿਸਰ)

1. Egypt (a country in North Africa and Western Asia)

From Arabic مِصْر (miṣr).

• IPA^(key): /masˤr/, [ˈmɑ.sˤ(ɪ)rˤ]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

مصر • (maṣr) f

1. Egypt (a country in North Africa and Western Asia)

• مصري (maṣri, “Egyptian”)
• مصاري (maṣāri, “money”)

Borrowed from Classical Persian مِصْر (misr), from Arabic مِصْر (miṣr).

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /mɪsɾ/, /mɪ.səɾ/

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪsɾ, -əɾ

مِصْر • (misr) f (Hindi spelling मिस्र)

1. Egypt (a country in North Africa and Western Asia)
   • 2004, مرزا طاہر احمد [Mirza Tahir Ahmad], رَبِّ اِنِّی لِمَا اَنزَلتَ اِلَیَّ مِن خَیر فَقِیر (poetry), quoted in کلامِ طاہر [Kalam-e-Tahir], pages 99-100:

     مصر جانے کو جی مچلتا ہے

     miṣr jāne ko jī macaltā hai

     My heart yearns to go to Egypt

2. (by extension) cities south of Cairo in Egypt.
3. (figuratively) Cairo (a city in Egypt)

• (Middle East) مَشْرِقِ وُسْطیٰ (maśriq-i vustā); سَعُودی عَرَب (sa'ūdī 'arab), مِصْر (misr) عِراق ('irāq), اِیران (īrān), اُرْدُن (urdun), شام (śām), تُرْکِیَہ (turkiya), قِبْرِص (qibris) فِلِسْطِین (filistīn) اِسْرائِیل (isrāīl) لِبْنان (libnān) یَمَن (yaman) عُمان ('umān) مُتَّحِدَہ عَرَب اِمارات (muttahida 'arab imārāt) قَطَر (qatar) بَحْرِین (bahrīn) کُوَیت (kuvait) ^{(Category: ur:Middle East)}

مِصْر • (misr) f (Hindi spelling मिस्र)

1. a city; centre; country
2. limit, extent (between two items)
3. sword; blade

• “مصر”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “مصر”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “مصر”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884) “مصر”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• John Shakespear (1834) “مصر”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC