کتاب

See also: كتاب, كباب, کباب, and كناب

Azerbaijani

Noun

کتاب (kitab) (definite accusative کتابی (kitabı), plural کتابلار (kitablar))

1. Arabic spelling of kitab (“book”)

Declension

Declension of کتاب

	singular	plural
nominative	کتاب	کتابلار
definite accusative	کتابێ	کتابلارێ
dative	کتابا	کتابلارا
locative	کتابدا	کتابلاردا
ablative	کتابدان	کتابلاردان
definite genitive	کتابێن	کتابلارێن

Chagatai

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic كِتَاب (kitāb)bor.

Classical Persian کِتَاب (kitāb)bor.

Chagatai کتاب (ktāb)

Borrowed from Classical Persian کِتَاب (kitāb), borrowed from Arabic كِتَاب (kitāb).

Noun

کتاب • (kitāb) (plural کتابلار)

1. book

Descendants

• Uyghur: كىتاب (kitab)
• Uzbek: kitob

Khalaj

Noun

کِتاب (kitâb) (definite accusative کِتابؽ, plural کِتابلار)

1. Arabic spelling of kitâb (“book”)

Declension

Declension of کتاب

	singular	plural
nominative	کتاب	کتابلار
genitive	کتابؽݧ	کتابلارؽݧ
dative	کتابقا	کتابلارقا
definite accusative	کتابؽ	کتابلارؽ
locative	کتابچا	کتابلارچا
ablative	کتابدا	کتابلاردا
instrumental	کتابلا	کتابلارلا
equative	کتابوارا	کتابلاروارا

Pashto

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic كِتَاب (kitāb)bor.

Classical Persian کِتَاب (kitāb)bor.

Pashto کِتَاب

Borrowed from Classical Persian کِتَاب (kitāb), borrowed from Arabic كِتَاب (kitāb).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɪt̪.ɑb/
• IPA^(key): /ki.t̪ɑb/

Noun

کتاب • (kitâb) f (plural کتابونه (kitâbuna))

1. book

Declension

Declension of کتاب

	singular	plural
direct	کتاب (kitâb)	کتابونه (kitâbuna)
oblique	کتاب (kitâb)	کتابونو (kitâbuno)
vocative	کتابه (kitâba)	کتابونو (kitâbuno)

Persian

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Arabic كِتَاب (kitāb)bor.

Persian کِتَاب

Borrowed from Arabic كِتَاب (kitāb).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ki.ˈtaːb/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰɪ.t̪ʰɑ́ːb]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰɪ.t̪ʰɑ́ːb]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [kʰɪ.t̪ʰɑ́ːb]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [kʰi.t̪ʰɔ́ːb̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰʲe.t̪ʰɒ́ːb̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰi.t̪ʰɔ́b]

Readings
Classical reading?	kitāb
Dari reading?	kitāb
Iranian reading?	ketâb
Tajik reading?	kitob

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

Noun

کتاب • (kitāb / ketâb) (plural کتب (kutub / kotob), or کتاب‌ها (kitāb-hā / ketâb-hâ), Tajik spelling китоб)

1. book

   خیلی از این کتاب‌ها را خوانده‌ام.

   xeyli az in ketâb-hâ râ xânde-am.

   I have read many of these books.

Declension

Possessive forms of کتاب (Dari Persian)

	singular	plural
1st person singular (“my”)	کتابم (kitābam)	کتاب‌هایم، کتابایم△ (kitāb-hā́yam, kitābā́ym△)
2nd person singular (“your”)	کتابت (kitābat)	کتاب‌هایت، کتابایت△ (kitāb-hā́yat, kitābā́yt△)
3rd person singular (“his, her, its”)	کتابش، کتابشِی△ (kitābaš, kitābšī△)	کتاب‌هایش، کتابایش△ (kitāb-hā́yaš, kitābā́yš△)
1st person plural (“our”)	کتابمان، کتابما△ (kitābimān, kitābimā△)	کتاب‌هایمان، کتابایما△ (kitāb-hā́yimān, kitābā́ymā△)
2nd person plural (“your”)	کتابتان (kitābitān)	کتاب‌هایتان، کتابایتان△ (kitāb-hā́yitān, kitābā́ytān△)
3rd person plural (“their”)	کتابشان (kitābišān)	کتاب‌هایشان، کتابایشان△ (kitāb-hā́yišān, kitābā́yšān△)

^△ Colloquial.

Possessive forms of کتاب

	singular	plural
1st person singular (“my”)	کتابم (ketâbam)	کتاب‌هایم، کتاب‌هام، کتابام△ (ketâb-hấyam, ketâbấm△)
2nd person singular (“your”)	کتابت (ketâbat, ketâbet△)	کتاب‌هایت، کتاب‌هات، کتابات△ (ketâb-hấyat, ketâbất△)
3rd person singular (“his, her, its”)	کتابش (ketâbaš, ketâbeš△)	کتاب‌هایش، کتاب‌هاش، کتاباش△ (ketâb-hấyaš, ketâbấš△)
1st person plural (“our”)	کتابمان، کتابمون△ (ketâbemân, ketâbemun△)	کتاب‌هایمان، کتاب‌هامون، کتابامون△ (ketâb-hấyemân, ketâbấmun△)
2nd person plural (“your”)	کتابتان، کتابتون△ (ketâbetân, ketâbetun△)	کتاب‌هایتان، کتاب‌هاتون، کتاباتون△ (ketâb-hấyetân, ketâbấtun△)
3rd person plural (“their”)	کتابشان، کتابشون△ (ketâbešân, ketâbešun△)	کتاب‌هایشان، کتاب‌هاشون، کتاباشون△ (ketâb-hấyešân, ketâbấšun△)

^△ Colloquial.

Derived terms

• کتابخانه (kitābxāna / ketâbxâne)
• کتابدار (kitābdār / ketâbdâr)
• کتابچه (kitābča / ketâbče)
• کتاب‌فروش (kitāb-furōš / ketâb-foruš)
• کتاب‌فروشی (kitāb-furōšī / ketâb-foruši)

Related terms

Persian terms derived from the Arabic root ك ت ب (0 c, 6 e)

Descendants

• → Assamese: কিতাপ (kitap)
  • → Atong (India): kitap
• → Bengali: কিতাব (kitab)
• → Gujarati: કિતાબ (kitāb)
• → Old Hindi: कतेब (kateba)
• → Northern Luri: کتۋ (ketü)
• → Maithili:

  Devanagari script: किताप (kitāp), किताब (kitāb)

  Tirhuta script: 𑒏𑒱𑒞𑒰𑒣 (kitāpa), 𑒏𑒱𑒞𑒰𑒥 (kitāba)

• → Naga Pidgin: kitab
• → Nepali: किताब (kitāb, “book”), किताप (kitāp, “book”)
  • Dzongkha: ཀི་ཏབ (ki tab, “book, notebook”)
• → Odia: କିତାବ (kitāba)
• → Old Punjabi: ਕਤੇਬ (kateba)
  • Punjabi:

    Gurmukhi script: ਕਿਤਾਬ (kitāb)

    Shahmukhi script: کِتاب (kitāb)

• → Sindhi:

  Arabic script: ڪِتابُ

  Devanagari script: किताबु

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Arabic كُتَّاب (kuttāb).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /kut.ˈtaːb/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰʊt̪.t̪ʰɑ́ːb]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰʊt̪.t̪ʰɑ́ːb]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [kʰʊt̪.t̪ʰɑ́ːb]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [kʰut̪.t̪ʰɔ́ːb̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰot̪ʰ.t̪ʰɒ́ːb̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰut̪.t̪ʰɔ́b]

Readings
Classical reading?	kuttāb
Dari reading?	kuttāb
Iranian reading?	kottâb
Tajik reading?	kuttob

Noun

کتاب • (kuttāb / kottâb) (Tajik spelling куттоб)

1. plural of کاتب (kātib / kâteb)

Punjabi

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic كِتَاب (kitāb)bor.

Classical Persian کِتَاب (kitāb)bor.

Punjabi کِتَاب (kitāb)

Borrowed from Classical Persian کِتَاب (kitāb), borrowed from Arabic كِتَاب (kitāb). First attested as Old Punjabi ਕਤੇਬ (kateba).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): [kɪ.täːbᵊ]
• Hyphenation: کِ‧تَاب

Noun

کِتَاب • (kitāb) f (formal plural کُتُب, Gurmukhi spelling ਕਿਤਾਬ)

1. book

Declension

Declension of کتاب

	singular	plural
direct	کِتَاب (kitāb)	کِتَاباں (kitābāṉ)
oblique	کِتَاب (kitāb)	کِتَاباں (kitābāṉ)
vocative	کِتَابے (kitābe)	کِتَابو (kitābo)
ablative	کِتَابوں (kitāboṉ)	—
locative	کِتَاباں (kitābāṉ)	کِتَابی (kitābī)
instrumental	کِتَابِیں (kitābīṉ)	کِتَابِیں (kitābīṉ)

Further reading

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002), “کِتاب”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat‎ (in Punjabi), Lahore: عزیز پبلشرز [ʻazīz pabliśarz]
• Bashir, Kanwal (2012), “کتاب”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Hyattsville, MD: Dunwoody Press
• “ਕਿਤਾਬ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2025

Urdu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic كِتَاب (kitāb)bor.

Classical Persian کِتَاب (kitāb)bor.

Urdu کِتَاب (kitāb)

Borrowed from Classical Persian کِتَاب (kitāb), borrowed from Arabic كِتَاب (kitāb). Displaced Old Hindi कतेब (kateba), borrowed from the same term. Compare Punjabi کتاب (kitāb), Sindhi ڪِتابُ (kitābu).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /kɪ.t̪ɑːb/

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːb

Noun

کِتاب • (kitāb) f (Hindi spelling किताब)

1. book

Declension

Declension of کتاب

	singular	plural
direct	کِتَاب (kitāb)	کِتَابیں (kitābẽ)
oblique	کِتَاب (kitāb)	کِتَابوں (kitābõ)
vocative	کِتَاب (kitāb)	کِتَابو (kitābo)

Further reading

• “کتاب”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “کتاب”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971), “کتاب”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884), “کتاب”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.

Ushojo

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic كِتَاب (kitāb)bor.

Classical Persian کِتَاب (kitāb)bor.

Urdu کِتَاب (kitāb)bor.

Ushojo کِتَاب

Borrowed from Urdu کِتَاب (kitāb), borrowed from Classical Persian کِتَاب (kitāb), borrowed from Arabic كِتَاب (kitāb).

Noun

کتاب (kitāb)

1. book