متى

Compare مَا‎ (mā, “what?”) and مَن‎ (man, “who?”). Cognate to Hebrew מתי‎ (matai).

• IPA^(key): /ma.taː/

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مَتَى • (matā)

1. when (at what time?)
2. whenever
   • a. 965, Al-Mutanabbi, “Poem #182”, in The Works of 'Abū al-Ṭayyib al-Mutanabbī, volume 3, Dār Al-Ma‘rifah, published 1978, page 75:

     ‏مَتَى تَزُرْ قْوْمَ مَنْ تَهْوَى زِيَارَتَهَا / لَا يُتْحِفُوكَ بِغَيْرِ الْبِيضِ وَٱلْأَسَلِ‎

     matā tazur qwma man tahwā ziyāratahā / lā yutḥifūka biḡayri l-bīḍi wal-ʔasali

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

• (whenever): مَتَى مَا‎ (matā mā)

• Egyptian Arabic: امتى‎ (emta)
• Maltese: meta
• Moroccan Arabic: امتى‎ (imta)
• South Levantine Arabic: ايمتى‎ (ʔēmta)

مَتَى • (matā)

1. (obsolete, rare, dialectal) from
   • Abu Dhu'ayb Al-Hudhali

     ‏شَرِبْنَ بِمَاءِ ٱلْبَحْرِ ثُمَّ تَرَفَّعَتْ مَتَى لُجَجٍ خُضْرٍ لَهُنَّ نَئِيجُ‎

     šaribna bimāʔi l-baḥri ṯumma taraffaʕat matā lujajin ḵuḍrin lahunna naʔīju

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

From Hebrew מתי‎ (mattai).

• IPA^(key): /mat.taː/

مَتَّى • (mattā) m

1. (Christianity) Matthew, one of the Twelve Disciples of Jesus and one of the Four Evangelists
2. (Christianity) Matthew, the first of the four canonical gospels