Arabic words in English
From Arabic words in English here, I found a few surprises and some I already knew. I wonder if the origins of a few of the words below are contested (thought monsoon would be Hindu, for example). I wish I had time to do some lexicographical research—another mental mini-excursion to pursue at some point. It’s an interesting area.
UPDATE: See also Persian words in English
admiral adobe aladdin albacore albatross alborak alchemy alcove alembic alfalfa algebra algorithm ali baba alkali alkanet almagest almanac amalgam amber antimony apricot arak arsenal artichoke azimuth azoth azure barberry bard bedouin blighty borax bougie buckram burgoo calibre camel camphor candy carafe carat caraway cipher coffee cotton crimson damascene dragoman durra elemi elixir fakir falafel fellah felucca fennec gazelle gerbil ghoul gibraltar giraffe guitar hajji halal halvah hammam harem hazard henna imam jar jasmine jennet jerboa jinnee julep kebab kismet kohl lemon lilac lime loofah lute macramé magazine marzipan mattress minaret mohair monsoon mosque mozarab mummy muslin nadir orange oud mater ramadan ream rook safari saffron sahara saice sash satin scarlet senna sequin sesame sheikh sherbet soda sofa souk spinach sugar sumac summit syrup tabby tabla tahini talc talisman tamarind tambourine tare tariff tarragon trafalgar vizier zarf zedoary zenith zero
Damn you for Algebra! :P
Interesting URL. A little DNS sleuthing revealed that the IP address belongs to some folks out of Londinium styling themselves Headshift.They claim they’re all about new ways to help people communicate and collaborate, but judging by their DNS skills I’m going to bet that they are theoretical types and not certified hands on Geekers N Tweakers. Which is a good sign. Someone with some real imagination and hopefully some real money is letting the badger run.
Just hope they don’t discover Algebra again.
There’s all kinds of interesting innovation going on there if you hack back to the root URL. They gotta be terrorists for sure. :P
Hi, Ann, I am not sure that “tarragon” is an arab word… where does it com from?. About the rest of them, I recognise most of them as brought by African Muslims to Spain many centuries ago.
Greetings.
You want us to confirm whether they come from the arab?, is that what you are asking for?.
Hola Rochonf, good to hear from you and appreciate your input. Yes, I welcome any verification or clarification about any of these words regarding origin. I recognize words like cotton and coffee, but was puzzled about some of the other word claims. Thanks for your confirmation about words in Moorish Spain.
salut
Ann
Serv, great way of putting it, “geekers and tweakers”. I came upon the British-based 1000 Inventions Muslim Heritage site about a year ago and have subsequently bought the book. Its a fascinating exploration, historical corrective and a good bridge-building exercise as well. So, you didn’t take to the AlGebra movement much either, eh? Never mind, but wielding Weapons of Math Instruction can only be a good thing.
Update: just as a starting point, a quick check of wikipedia reveals an entry on Arabic loan words in English. Many words were filtered through Arabic and come ultimately from other languages such as Persian or Sanskrit. Conversely, some words are of Arabic origin and were filtered through European languages.
Rochonf, there is also an entry on the linguistic Arabic influence on Spanish that may interest you—there’s far more in Spanish!
It’s a great pleasure for me, Ann.
Before reading your kind link on Arabic influence in my language (we the Spaniards are very conscious and proud of that legacy), I started to answer to your list, by my own means (meanly our Royal Academy of language), and I see they do not always agree with the origin quoted in Wikipedia. There are many Arab words in our language that sound so beautiful, so musically and with so feeling…
Here I go:
Admiral (“almirante” in Spanish), it comes from Latin “amiratus”, that came from Bizantin Greek “ἀμιράς”, “-άδος”, that came from classic Arab “amīr”).
Adobe (as in Spanish), comes from Hispanic Arab “aṭṭúb”, that comes from classic Arab “ṭūb”, that came from Egiptian “ḏbt”.
Aladdin (“Aladino” in Spanish) it’s a proper name that comes from the Arab “‘Alā ‘ad-Dīn”, that means “noble face”.
Albacore (“albacora” in Spanish), comes from Hispanic Arab “albakúra”, that comes from classic Arab “bākūrah”, what means early fruit.
Albatross (albatros), comes from “alcatraz”, that comes from Hispanic Arab “qaṭrás”, that means “the one that walks cheerfully”.
Alborak, proper name of a imaginary horse that was ridden by the prophet Muhammed.
Alchemy (“alquimia” in Spanish), comes from Hispanic Arab “alkímya”, that comes from classic Arab “kīmiyā[‘]”, which comes from Greek “χυμεία”, meaning “mix of liquids”.
Alcove (“alcoba”) comes from Hispanic Arab “alqúbba”, which comes from classic Arab “qubbah”, that comes from the Sasanide Persian “gumbad”, what means “dome of a Temple of the Fire). This word is beautiful.
Alembic (“alambique”), comes from Hispanic Arab “alanbíq”, which comes from Classic Arab “inbīq”, and this one from the Greek “ἄμβιξ”, “-ικος”).
Alfalfa (the same for us), from Hispanic Arab ” alfáṣfaṣ[a]”, which comes from classic Arab “fiṣfiṣah”, that comes from Sasanide Persian “aspast”.
Algebra (“álgebra”), comes from Latin “algĕbra”, that comes from classic Arab “alǧabru walmuqābalah”, what means “reduction and comparison”.
Algorithm (“algoritmo”), comes from Latin “algobarismus”, that comes from classic Arab “ḥisābu lḡubār”, calculation by means of Arabic numbers.
Ali Baba (the same), is a proper name, perhaps original from the original book The Arabian Nights, perhaps added to it in a later time.
Alkali (“álcali” in Spanish), from Hispanic Arab “alqalí”, that comes from classic Arab “qily”, what means “soda”.
Alkanet: sorry, no information nor idea about it.
Almagest: I don’t know.
Almanac (“almanaque”), comes from Hispanic Arab “almanáẖ” (calendar), which comes from classic Arab “munāẖ”, what means “caravan stop”. The Semitic peoples associated the stars and their positions to camels in route.
Amalgam (“amalgama”), it comes from Latin, not from Arab.
Amber (“ámbar”), from Hispanic Arab “ánbar”, and this one from the classic Arab “‘anbar”.
Antimony (“antimonio”), from Latin “antimonĭum”, that comes from Arab “iṯmid” or “uṯmud”, which comes from the Egiptian “smty”.
Apricot (“albaricoque”), from Hispanic Arab “albarqúq”, which comes from classic Arab “burqūq”, which comes from Greek “βερίκοκκον”.
Arak: sorry, no idea.
Arsenal (as in Spanish), comes from Hispanic Arab “ãdár aṣṣán‘a”, which comes from “dár aṣṣiná‘a”, that comes from classic Arab “dār aṣṣinā‘ah”, meaning “house of the industry”.
Artichoke (“alcachofa” in Spanish), from Hispanic Arab “alẖaršúf[a]”, which comes from Arab “ẖuršūf[ah]”, and possibly this comes from Sesenide Persian “hār čōb”, “stick with thorns”.
Azimuth (“azimut”), from classic Arab “assumūt” (plural of “samt”.
Azoth: no idea. In the case of meaning “azogue” in Spanish, it comes from Hispanic Arab “azzáwq”, this from the classic Arab “zāwq” or “zā’ūq”, and this from the Sesenide Persian “zīwag”, meaning Mercury.
Another day more, ok my friend?.
Pending yet: azure barberry bard bedouin blighty borax bougie buckram burgoo calibre camel camphor candy carafe carat caraway cipher coffee cotton crimson damascene dragoman durra elemi elixir fakir falafel fellah felucca fennec gazelle gerbil ghoul gibraltar giraffe guitar hajji halal halvah hammam harem hazard henna imam jar jasmine jennet jerboa jinnee julep kebab kismet kohl lemon lilac lime loofah lute macramé magazine marzipan mattress minaret mohair monsoon mosque mozarab mummy muslin nadir orange oud mater ramadan ream rook safari saffron sahara saice sash satin scarlet senna sequin sesame sheikh sherbet soda sofa souk spinach sugar sumac summit syrup tabby tabla tahini talc talisman tamarind tambourine tare tariff tarragon trafalgar vizier zarf zedoary zenith zero
This is brilliant, thanks so much for this wonderful contribution, Rochonf! You covered practically all the A’s, so much more than I expected and I very much appreciate your smart and generous input. I can tell you about arak at least — it is an aniseed-flavoured alcoholic drink. Its very strong and rarely drunk straight. According to the embedded link, it is similar to the Spanish ojén and has culinary cousins all over the Mediterranean (Turks have raki, Italians have anesone). Thanks again for this!
It’s alright, kind lady. I’ll go on soon. By now, I wanted to explain that some tribes came into Spain from Northern Africa 13 centuries ago, and they stayed with us along 8 centuries. Those tribes belonged to Arabian cultures. They brought to Spain high knowledge in main matters (maths, astronomy, architecture, medicine…) that were spread to the rest of Europe and the World under the Spanish conquers. That is why it’s called Hispanic Arab.
In that time, Europeans (even those proud angloids) were a stinking horde of dirty and dumb country bumpkins. The fountain and origin of our occidental civilization is Arab and is situated in those areas that Bush is destroying and wants to erase from Earth.
Sorry, not only by Spanish conquers, that is not correct. Although they helped. And also there was a counterpart: as any other imperialist people, there was a high content of crime in their acts.
That’s a good explanation of Moorish Spain and the Arab-Muslim role in helping to found occidental civilization (through preserving the Greek texts and more).
I have seen your and Homeyra’s interesting follow-up comments at your place about the dilemma of activism re Iran and will respond shortly.
Interesting list, I always like to discover new words in English that have come from Arabic. Just one point to make though, each time you give the examples you say e.g. “from Hispanic Arab “azzáwq””, then, “this from the classic Arab “zāwq””. The Al/Az/At etc at the beginning of Arabic words is simply the article ‘the’. The article itself is pronounced ‘Al’ but when it is followed by words beginning with certain letters (‘sun letters’) the ‘l’ is dropped and the first consonant of the noun is doubled i.e sun = shams, the sun = ash-shams (I’m not sure of the official transliteration but I’m sure you see what I mean). Therefore the words do not come from Hispanic Arabic as such but from standard Arabic with the article included as part of the word.
Hi Kate, thanks very much for coming by and I appreciate the clarification. My own surname contains the article ‘the’ (el, variously spelt as ‘al as you know) so I can see how the article becomes incorporated into the word transliteration. Are you by any chance the same Kate who posts thoughtful comments over at our friend The Fanonite’s? Welcome, and hope you’ll come by again soon.
cheers
Ann
Ann
Monsoon comes from Arabic ‘mausam.’ Actually Salalah in the south of Oman is touched by the edge of the Indian monsoon in the summer. As a result it is wet and misty, and very green, while the rest of the peninsula is baking and dry. Remember also that Arab sailors dominated the Indian ocean before the Portuguese and then the British, so a lot of maritime terms (and monsoon winds are relevant here) come from there. See Hourani’s “Arab Seafaring.”
Alaa ad-deen means something like ‘the height of religion.’
Please visit my blog, and if you like it add it to your list of Middle East blogs. Thanks.
Qunfuz, I am delighted to have this clarification and that you came by, thank you very much. I have added your site to the links under blogosphere and look forward to reading more.
best wishes,
Ann