# moallem/muallim



## Setwale_Charm

Hi!
I know the Arabic word _moallem_ meaning "teacher". I have heard a similar word but sounding more like "muallim" from Azeris. And it looked like it had a slightly different meaning or was employed in a slightly different sense. So can anybody who knows Azeri, or maybe Turkish, tell me if there is such a word in their language?


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## Bienvenidos

That would be something along the lines of "melem" which is pronounced "MULL-im," from my experiences. It's quite interesting, as the term teacher is similar in all these languages/dialects (Persian, Azeri, etc)


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## Chazzwozzer

Perhaps Azeris are still using this loan-word but Turkish has completely dropped it and öğretmen was coined.

Yes, the archaic loan-word is _muallim_, just like you spelled it. As the online free-dictionaries and TDK suggest, it means nothings else but teacher in the old usage.

In Azeri, on the other hand,


> When addressing a person by his or her first name, follow it         with a title. For women, use the word "khanim" as in         "Vafa khanim" which serves much like American term,         "Ms", in that it does not distinguish the woman's marital         status. For men, there are two major choices. Still "muallim"         (teacher) is frequently used, as in "Fuad Muallim"         or "Rauf Muallim". This general usage of "Muallim"         for men, regardless of whether they are teachers by profession         is a remnant from the Soviet past.


_(source: azeri.org)_


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## Setwale_Charm

Thanks a lot. Although all this leaves me a bit puzzled. The word was used with somehow derogatory undertones as if this was not a thing for a man to do.


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## divinelight

Usually the word "muallim" does not have a derogatory meaning, it is a way of formally adressing someone. However, it might have been an inside joke or something in the context that you heard.


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## panjabigator

What does it mean in Urdu?  I'm pretty sure it's a word.


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## MarcB

Arabic  *معلم*=mu3lim= educated, teacher,title of respect,sir.


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## elroy

MarcB said:


> Arabic *معلم*=mu3allim= educated, teacher,title of respect,sir.


 A small correction to the transliteration.

The word does not mean "educated," although most teachers are presumably educated.   "Educated" is متعلم (_muta3allim_) or مثقف (_muthaqqaf_).


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