how to say “train tracks” in Hebrew

מְסִלַּת בַּרְזֶל, מְסִלַּת רַכֶּבֶת, פַּסֵּי רַכֶּבֶת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסילה-1.mp3″ /]

If you’ve traveled in Israel using public transportation, chances are you know the word for train – רַכֶּבֶת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסילה-2.mp3″ /], which derives from the root ר.כ.ב (r.k.b) meaning vehicle.

Train tracks or a railroad track is מְסִלַּת בַּרְזֶל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסילה-3.mp3″ /] – literally, track of steel. It’s also called מְסִלַּת רַכֶּבֶת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסילה-4.mp3″ /] – track of (a) train.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסילה-5.mp3″ /]הָרַכֶּבֶת נוֹסַעַת מַהֵר עַל מְסִלַּת הַבַּרְזֶל.

The train goes fast on the tracks.

Another less formal term for train tracks is פַּסֵּי רַכֶּבֶת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסילה-9.mp3″ /] – literally, stripes of a train.

The word מסילת means track of, so that just track is מְסִלָּה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסילה-6.mp3″ /]. You’ll find this word in phrases such as the name of Jerusalem’s green promenade, פַּארְק הַמְּסִלָּה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסילה-7.mp3″ /] – Railroad Park.

The root of מסילה is ס.ל.ל (s.l.l) meaning paving. In Biblical Hebrew, מסילה is one of the words for path or way. It is used as such in Rabbinic and Modern Hebrew as well, but in more literary contexts such as the title of the 18th-century rabbinic work, מְסִלַּת יְשָׁרִים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסילה-8.mp3″ /] – The Path of the Just.