Medical science is divided into numerous fields or specializations. A professional medical translator will not just have strong knowledge of languages, but of that specific medical field and the related terminologies as well.
With millions of native speakers, Arabic is regarded as the lingua franca of the Arab world and is also the liturgical language of Islam. It belongs to the Central Semitic family of languages. Other languages belonging to the Central Semitic family of languages are Aramaic, Ugaritic, and the Canaanite languages of Hebrew and Phoenician. Due to extensive influence of Arabic in the fields of science, mathematics and philosophy during the Middle Ages, it left a great impact over many European languages. As a result languages such as Spanish borrowed a great deal of words from the Arabic language. Other languages influenced by Arabic are Persian, Turkish, Spanish, Maltese, Urdu, Kashmiri, Kurdish, Bosnian, Kazakh, Bengali, Hindi, Malay, Maldivian, Indonesian, Pashto, Punjabi, Tagalog, Sindhi and Hausa and some languages in parts of Africa.
Below are Arabic translation of common terms used in medical documents:
| Arabic Language | English Language |
|---|---|
| aS-SiHHa | Health |
| SudaaA | headache |
| kuHHa | cough |
| rabw | asthma |
| julTa | stroke |
| daa’ as-sukkaree | diabetes |
| SaraA | epilepsy |
| DaghT dam | blood pressure |
| alam bil-baTn | stomach ache |
| Aadwaa | infection |
| Hassaaseeya | allergy |
| nawba qalbeeya | heart attack |
| Tabeeb | doctor |
| vayroos | virus |
| SudaaA niSfee | migraine |
| mareeD | patient |
| jihaaz qiyaas DaghT ad-dam | blood pressure gauge |
| tirmometr | thermometer |
| sammaaAa | stethoscope |
| wishaaH taAleeq | sling |
| sinaad raqaba | neck brace |
| malkh | sprain |
| kasr | fracture |
| kadma | bruise |
| nazeef | hemorrhage |
| tasammum | poisoning |
| Sadma kahrabaa’eeya | electric shock |
| Halla Taari’a | emergency |
| iSaaba bir-ra’s | head injury |
| muTahhir | antiseptic |
| shaash | gauze |
| taDmeed al-jurH | dressing |
| al-mustashfa | hospital |
| Tabeeb takhdeer | anesthetist |
| faHS ad-dam | blood test |
| kursee bi-Aajal | wheelchair |
| Aamaleeya | operation |
| waHdat ar-riAaaya al-murakkaza | intensive care unit |
| Aanbar al-wilaada | maternity ward |
| udhun wa-anf wa-Hanjara | ear, nose and throat (ENT) |
| al-qalb wal-awAiya ad-damaweeya | cardiology |
| al-AiZaam | orthopedics |