متى

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

• IPA^(key): /ma.taː/

• Audio:

  (file)

مَتَى • (matā)

1. when (at what time?)
2. whenever
   • a. 965, Al-Mutanabbi, “أَجابَ دَمعي وَما الداعي سِوى طَلَلِ” (chapter 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 quotation)

• (whenever): مَتَى مَا (matā mā)

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

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 quotation)

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

From Arabic مَتَى (matā).

• IPA^(key): /mi.ta/,

مِتى • (mita)

1. when (at what time?)
2. whenever