cold in Somali

Of or at a low temperature

Page type: Learning page
Review: Source reviewed

everydayweather

Reviewed August 16, 2026Review record: Codex source audit

This entry has been checked against the references below, but a named Somali reviewer has not yet certified its dialect, register, and natural usage. Verify important communication with a qualified speaker.

Translation

Somali meanings

qabow[1][2][3]

Of or at a low temperature

Useful combinations

Common phrases with cold

cold water

biyo qabow[1][2]

cold weather

cimilo qabow[1]

the cold

qabowga[2][3]

Real usage

Example sentences

The water is cold.

temperature

Biyuhu waa qabow yihiin.[1][2]

Cold water, please.

request

Biyo qabow, fadlan.[1][2]

The weather is cold.

weather

Cimiladu waa qabow.[1]

Grammar

Grammar notes

Temperature adjective

Use qabow for cold in the low-temperature sense. Some dictionaries also list hargab for the illness a cold, so do not use qabow when you mean the sickness.[1][2][3]

Questions

Questions about cold in Somali

How do you say cold in Somali?

Cold as a temperature adjective is qabow in Somali. A cold as an illness is hargab.

Evidence

References checked

[1] OpenTran English-Somali Dictionary PDF
Checked cold and cool as qabow, climate as cimilada, water as biyo, and please as fadlan.
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[2] OpenTran Somali-English Dictionary PDF
Checked qabow as cold, qabowga as the cold, hargab as cold in the illness sense, and biyo as water.
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[3] Learner's Somali Grammar (Morgan Nilsson, University of Gothenburg)
Checked qabow-ga as coldness and the related verb pattern qaboojiyaa/qaboojisaa cools something.
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