# entry (in a list)



## akhooha

Can إدخال be used to refer to an entry in a list of items? Is there a better word? Thank you.


----------



## elroy

No, إدخال doesn’t work.  The word for “entry” as in “dictionary entry” is مدخل.  For a list, I might use مادة, but it depends on the context.


----------



## cherine

We also have the word بَنْد, plural بنود.


----------



## akhooha

Thank you, elroy and cherine.


----------



## jack_1313

How about قيد?


----------



## cherine

I can't think of a context where قيد would refer to an entry or an item in a list.


----------



## jack_1313

I'm thinking primarily of entries in databases here, which I think is where we usually use the word "entry" in English (to enter or record information). For a regular list, we'd say "item". We'd never say, for example, "How many entries are on the shopping list?".

I checked Reverso and came up with a range of examples, including:


> ونحن نرحب باستكمال المبادئ التوجيهية لهذا الجانب، وبوضع إجراءات لاستعراض جميع الأسماء المدرجة في القائمة الموحدة، وبإعداد موجزات لأسباب إدراج كل قيد في القائمة.





> واقترحت الدول "المتماثلة التفكير" أن تغير اللجنة إجراءاتها لاتخاذ القرارات بما يسمح بإجراء تصويت بالأغلبية عوضا عن الأخذ بتوافق الآراء، لدى النظر في إزالة قيد ما من القائمة عقب فترة الاستعراض، وهي الفترة التي تقترح تلك الدول تخفيضها إلى عامين.



Of course, Reverso examples are usually translated from English to Arabic and are not always accurate, but my initial suggestion stemmed from the fact that I've seen قيد used this way "in the field".


----------



## Mahaodeh

cherine said:


> I can't think of a context where قيد would refer to an entry or an item in a list.



I have seen قيد used in this context. However, I'm used to the word قيد referring to an entry in some sort of registry or record as opposed to a simple list, such قيد الطالب في الجامعة - قيد المواطن في دائرة الجنسية.


----------



## akhooha

Thank you all for your replies. The exact context is a page of search results from the Arab Union Catalog, shown below. Would the most appropriate word for each listed "entry" in this context be 
مدخل ، مادة ، بند، or قيد ?


----------



## elroy

I might use نتيجة, since these are search _results_.  But it depends on the sentence/context.  Can you tell us more?


----------



## akhooha

Well, OK. A title search for the book "الإسلامية والروحية في أدب نجيب محفوظ" yielded some weird results on ARUC's website. Instead of it being the first entry, it did not appear until the sixth entry. Entries 1 through 5 are totally irrelevant.
Yes, I suppose نتيجة might do the job, but what if I were stuck on the idea of translating the word "entry"? Would I use مدخل ، مادة ، بند، or قيد ?


----------



## elroy

I would say ظهر في الموقع السادس في قائمة النتائج.  In other words, I wouldn’t translate “entry” directly in this context. 

I would only use مدخل for a dictionary or reference work.
I would only use مادة or بند for an “organized” list (these words are often used to refer to sections of laws).
I’m not familiar with قيد with this meaning, but based on Maha’s description, it wouldn’t fit either.


----------



## jack_1313

akhooha said:


> Yes, I suppose نتيجة might do the job, but what if I were stuck on the idea of translating the word "entry"?



The only reason that I can imagine you want to stick with "entry" here is that you want the surrounding scope of the term to be the database itself (i.e. you're referring to a thing entered into a database) and not just the list of search results. Otherwise, the correct word is نتيجة, as Elroy originally suggested and as a search in Arabic using any major search engine will demonstrate.

In English, I think we call the items in a library's catalog "records", right? I still lean toward قيد here, though with both Elroy and Cherine contending that they've never seen this usage, take what I say with a grain of salt 
(Also, According to H.W., when the word is used with this meaning the plural is قيودات, though I've only ever seen قيود)

Edit: I just re-read your example sentence and the scope is clearly the list of results itself. Why can't we say النتيجة الأولى، النتيجة الثانية, etc.?


----------



## Mahaodeh

cherine said:


> I can't think of a context where قيد would refer to an entry or an item in a list.



Maybe you just don't remember because you don't use it a lot, but this,  this  and this show that the word is used in Egypt in the same way I mentioned earlier. Or maybe you don't imagine a registry as a list, but they are essentially the same even if the former is more complex than the latter.



elroy said:


> I’m not familiar with قيد with this meaning,


Actually, I know for sure that it's used at least in the West Bank to refer to entries in registries. Does قيد ميلاد أو قيد وفاة ring any bells? It is not the same as شهادة ميلاد; the latter is given to you because you have the former in the registry.



jack_1313 said:


> (Also, According to H.W., when the word is used with this meaning the plural is قيودات, though I've only ever seen قيود)



Same here, I've only ever seen قيود.


----------



## akhooha

OK, it looks like, in the context I described, I  was using "entry" incorrectly in English. I should  have used "result" in English which would be appropriately rendered in Arabic as "نتيجة". Thank you.
What about in the context of accounting, say a ledger or a spreadsheet? I'm pretty sure that the English "entry" would be appropriate ----- so what would be appropriate in Arabic?


----------



## jack_1313

I don't know about accounting, but I asked a programmer friend what word he and his colleagues use for "entry" in databases. Predictably, he said they use the English term. Then he said he'd look it up and came up with "مُدخلة/مدخلات" and linked to the Microsoft Access (database software) software documentation as evidence. If Microsoft has dedicated accounting software, you could check its Arabic documentation in much the same manner.

Edit: Here is Microsoft Excel documentation using "إدخالات" for entries in the context of a spreadsheet.


----------



## akhooha

Thank you, jack_1313


----------

