Kitaab

Kitaab is the common transliteration of the word for “book” in Arabic, Urdu, Persian, Turkish and other languages that borrow from the Arabic script. In Arabic, the word is kitab (كتاب), pronounced kitāb, and it derives from the triliteral root K-T-B, which is associated with writing and inscriptions. Across related languages, the term appears in similar forms such as kitaab, ketab, and kitap, reflecting shared linguistic heritage and local script conventions.

The term denotes a physical or digital collection of written material and also refers to a class of texts, including religious scriptures, legal codes, poetry, and encyclopedic works. In Islamic contexts, al-Kitab literally means “the Book,” a common epithet for the Qur’an, though kitāb can describe other sacred and scholarly writings as well. In secular usage, kitaab simply means any book, and appears in common expressions and compounds in Urdu, Persian, Turkish and other languages—for example, compounds referring to bookstores or libraries.

In modern usage, the word appears widely in publishing, education, and media across many Muslim-majority and multilingual regions. Transliterations vary by language and era, but the root remains recognizable: kitāb in closely related languages, kitap in Turkish and some Central Asian languages, ketab in Persian-influenced contexts, and kitaab in South Asian transliteration. The term’s universality underlines the central role of writing and recorded knowledge across cultures.