maddah

M3A1D2D2A1H4

noun

Arabic diacritic similar in appearance to a tilde. Over an alif (آ (ʔā) "alif maddah"), it indicates glottal stop, /ʔ/, followed by a long /aː/. The diacritic is not used separately, only over alif. Alif maddah can appear in the beginning: آسِف (ʔāsif) or in the middle of a word: قُرْآن (qurʔān).

OriginArabic مَدَّة →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

nounmaddah (plural maddahs)

plural maddahs

  1. Arabic diacritic similar in appearance to a tilde. Over an alif (آ (ʔā) "alif maddah"), it indicates glottal stop, /ʔ/, followed by a long /aː/. The diacritic is not used separately, only over alif. Alif maddah can appear in the beginning: آسِف (ʔāsif) or in the middle of a word: قُرْآن (qurʔān).
  2. In the Qur'an, it indicates an extra long vowel and can appear over any long vowel.
  3. In Persian the letter is used only in the beginning of a word with a long /aː/: آمدن (âmadan).

Origin

  1. Arabicمَدَّة
  2. Englishmaddah

From Arabic مَدَّة (madda).

More words from Arabic

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic مَدَّة
  • مَدَّة (madda)Arabic diacritic
Finnish madda
  • maddaArabic diacritic
French madda
  • maddaArabic diacritic
Hebrew מַדַּה
  • מַדַּה (mada)Arabic diacritic
Indonesian madah, mad
  • madahArabic diacritic
  • madArabic diacritic
Japanese マッダ
  • マッダ (madda)Arabic diacritic
Persian مد, کلاه
  • مد (madda)Arabic diacritic
  • کلاه (kolâh)Arabic diacritic
Russian ма́дда
  • ма́дда (mádda)Arabic diacritic
Urdu مد
  • مد (madda)Arabic diacritic

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Haddam
Cite this entry
APA

maddah. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maddah

MLA

“maddah.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maddah. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “maddah,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maddah.

Source: maddah on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.