List of English words of Arabic origin
Encyclopedia
Arabic loanwords in English are words acquired directly from Arabic or else indirectly by passing from Arabic into other languages (usually one or more of the Romance languages
) and then into English. Some of these Arabic loanword
s are not of ancient Arabic origin, but are loanwords within Arabic itself, coming into Arabic from Persian, Greek or other languages.
To qualify for this list, a word must be reported in leading etymology dictionaries as having an Arabic ancestor. A handful of etymology dictionaries has been used as the source for the list. In cases where the dictionaries disagree, the minority view is omitted. Rare and archaic words are also omitted. A bigger listing including many words very rarely seen in English is available at en.wiktionary.org.
Dozens of the stars in the night sky have Arabic name etymologies. These are listed separately at the list of Arabic star names article.
Words associated with Islam are listed separately at the glossary of Islam article.
: أمير amīr, commander. Amīr al-bihār = "commander of the seas" was a title in use in Arabic Sicily, and was continued by the Normans in Sicily in a Latinized form, and then adopted successively by Genoese and French. Modern French is "amiral". An English form under King Edward III (14th century) was "Amyrel of the Se". Insertion of the 'd' was doubtless influenced by allusion to common Latin "admire". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/admiral
adobe
: الطوبة al-ṭūba | at-tūba, "the brick". The first record of the word in a Western language is in 12th century Spanish. It entered English from Mexico in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Arabic dictionary of Al-Jawhari dated about year 1000 made the comment that the Arabic word came from the Coptic language
. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/adobe
albatross
: الغطّاس al-ghaṭṭās, literally "the diver", presumably a cormorant or others of the pelecaniform birds, which are diving waterbirds. The derived Spanish alcatraz has its earliest record in 1386 as a type of pelican. "Alcatras" was in English in the 16th century borrowed from Spanish and did not include albatrosses. Beginning in the 17th century, every European language adopted "albatros" with a 'b' for these Pacific Ocean birds, the 'b' having been mobilized from Latinate alba = white. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/albatross
alchemy
, chemistry
: الكيمياء al-kīmiyā, alchemy. The Arabic entered medieval Latin as alchimia, first attested in about the year 1140 in an Arabic-to-Latin translation by Plato Tiburtinus
. The Arabic word seems to have had its root in a late classical Greek word (the alchemy article has more details). The late medieval European words alchemy and alchemist gave rise in the 16th century to the words chemical and chemist, beginning in French and Latin. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alchemy
alcohol
: الكحل al-kohl, finely powdered kohl, especially stibnite
. Crossref kohl in this list. The word with that meaning entered Latin in the 13th century. In 14th century Latin it could mean any finely ground and sifted material. In the later medieval Latin alchemy literature it took on the additional meaning of a purified material, or "quintessence", which was typically arrived at by distillation methods. The restriction to "quintessence of wine" (ethanol
) started with the alchemist Paracelsus
in the 16th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alcohol
alcove
: القبّة al-qobba, "the vault" or cupola
. That sense for the word is in an Arabic dictionary dated around year 1000 and the same sense is documented in Spanish alcoba around 1275. Spanish begot French, earliest record 1646, and French begot English. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alcove
alembic (distillation apparatus)
: الانبيق al-anbīq, "the still
" (for distilling). The Arabic root is traceable to Greek ambix = "cup". The earliest chemical distillations were by Greeks in Alexandria in about the 3rd century (AD). Their ambix became the 9th century Arabic al-anbīq which became the 12th century Latin alembicus. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alembic
alfalfa
: الفصفصة al-fisfisa, alfalfa. The Arabic entered medieval Spanish. In medieval Spain alfalfa had a reputation as the best fodder for horses. The ancient Romans grew alfalfa but called it an entirely different name; history of alfalfa. The English name started in the far-west USA in the mid-19th century from Spanish alfalfa. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alfalfa
algebra
: الجبر al-jabr, completing, or restoring broken parts. The mathematical sense comes from the title of the book "al-kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-jabr wa al-muqābala", "The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completing and Balancing" by the 9th century mathematician al-Khwarizmi. This algebra book was translated to Latin more than once in the 12th century. In medieval Arabic mathematics, al-jabr and al-muqābala were the names of the two main preparatory steps used to solve an algebraic equation; and the phrase "al-jabr and al-muqābala" came to mean "method of equation-solving". The medieval Latins borrowed the method and the names. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/algebra
algorithm
, algorism
: الخوارزمي al-khwārizmī, a short name for the mathematician Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī
. The appellation al-Khwārizmī means "from Khwarizm". The Latinization of this name to "Algorismi" in the late 12th century gave rise to algorismus in the 13th. Until the late 19th century both algorismus and algorithm simply meant the "Arabic" decimal number system. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/algorithm
alidade : العضادة al-ʿiḍāda (from ''ʿiḍad, pivoting arm), a certain kind of surveying instrument whose usual context of use was in astronomy. Used by the astronomer Abū al-Wafā' Būzjānī (died 998). Word entered Latin in the Late Middle Ages. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alidade
alizarin
: العصارة al-ʿaṣāra, the juice (from ''ʿaṣar, to squeeze). Alizarin is a red dye. The origin and early history of the word alizarin is unclear, and a minority of dictionaries say the connection with al-ʿaṣāra is improbable. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alizarin
alkali
: القلي al-qalī (from قلى qalā, to fry), an alkaline material derived from the ashes of plants. Particularly plants that grew on alkaline soils—see Salsola kali
. Al-Jawhari (died 1003) said "al-qilī is obtained from glasswort
s". The Arabs used it as an ingredient in making soap, and making glass. Earliest record in the West is in a 13th century Latin alchemy text. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alkali
amber
, ambergris
: عنبر ''ʿanbar, meaning ambergris, i.e. a waxy material produced in the stomach of sperm whales and used historically for perfumery. The word passed into the Western languages in the mid medieval centuries with the same meaning as the Arabic. In the late medieval centuries the Western word took on the additional meaning of amber, from causes not understood. The word's two meanings – ambergris and amber – then co-existed for more than three centuries. "Ambergris" was coined to eliminate the ambiguity. But it wasn't until about 1700 that the ambergris meaning died out in English. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amber
anil
, aniline
: النيل al-nīl | an-nīl, indigo dye
. Arabic is in turn from Persian and Sanskrit nili, indigo dye. In English anil is a natural indigo dye or the plant that it is obtained from. Aniline is a technical word in dye chemistry dating from mid-19th century Europe. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/anil
apricot
: البرقوق al-birqūq, apricot. Arabic is in turn traceable back to Byzantine Greek and thence to classical Latin praecoqua, literally "precocious" and specifically precociously ripening peaches. The Arabic was passed onto the 14th century Portuguese albricoque and Catalan albercoc = "apricot". Seen in 1578 in English spelled abrecox. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/apricot
arsenal
: دار الصناعة dār aṣ-ṣināʿa, house of manufacturing. "Ibn Khaldoun quotes an order of the Caliph Abdalmelic to build at Tunis a dār ṣināʿa for the construction of everything necessary for the equipment and armament of [seagoing] vessels." In English the early meaning was a dock-yard for repairing ships (16th century). This is still the meaning of the modern Italian :it:darsena. Modern Italian also has :it:arsenale meaning the storage of munitions. 14th century Italian included the spellings "tarcenale", "terzana", "arzana", "tersanaia".... From Italian and originally from the dock-yards of Venice
the word spread to every European language. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/arsenal
artichoke
: الخرشوف al-kharshūf, artichoke. The word with that sense was used by for example Al-Razi
(died 930). Early Spanish carchiofa (1423), Italian carciofjo (circa 1525) are reasonably close to the Arabic precedent and so are today's Spanish alcachofa, Italian carciofo. It is not clear how the word was corrupted to French artichault (1538), northern Italian articiocch (circa 1550), English artochock (1591), but all of the etymology dictionaries say it is a corruption. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/artichoke
assassin : حشاشين ḥashāshīn
, an Arabic nickname for the Nizari
branch of Ismailism in the Levant
during the Crusades
era. This sect carried out assassinations against chiefs of other sects including Christians at the time and the story circulated in Europe. Generalization of the sect's nickname to the meaning of "assassin" happened in Italian after the Crusades era was over. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/assassin
attar (of roses)
: عطر ''ʿitr (plural: ''ʿutūr), perfume, aroma. The English word came from India in the late 18th century. The word is ultimately from Arabic. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/attar
aubergine
: الباذنجان al-bādhinjān, aubergine. The Arabic entered medieval Spanish, from which comes the modern Spanish berenjena = "aubergine" and Catalan albergínia = "aubergine". The French aubergine came from the Catalan form. It embodies a change from al- to au- that happened in French. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aubergine The aubergine food recipe name Moussaka
is also of Arabic descent.
azimuth : السموت al-sumūt | as-sumūt, the paths, the directions. Origin in texts of Astronomy in medieval Islam and the Arabic version of the Astrolab instrument. Geoffrey Chaucer's 1390s English Treatise on the Astrolabe used the word many times. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/azimuth
azure (color)
, lazurite (mineral)
: لازورد lāzward | lāzūard, lazurite and lapis lazuli
, a rock with a vivid blue color. In turn from "Lajward", the location of a large deposit of lapis lazuli in northeastern Afghanistan. The color azure without the initial 'L' was in all the western Romance languages in the later medieval centuries, and still is today, but it is spelled with the 'L' in today's Russian, Ukrainian and Polish (лазурь, lazur). "The 'L' is supposed to have been lost in the Romance languages through being taken as the definite article." http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/azure
, benzene
: Benzoin is a resinous substance from an Indonesian tree. Medieval Arab sea-merchants shipped it to the Middle East for sale as perfumery and incense. The word is a great corruption of لبان جاوي labān jāwī, literally "frankincense of Java". In European chemistry, the 15th century benzoin resin became the source for the 16th century benzoic acid which became the source for the 19th century benzene. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/benzoin
bezoar
: بازهر bāzahr (from Persian pâdzahr), a ruminant
bolus
. Today, a bezoar is a medical and veterinary term for a ball of indigestible material that collects in the stomach and fails to pass through the intestines. Goat boluses were recommended by medieval Arabic medical writers for use as antidotes to poisons. That is how the word first entered Latin medical vocabulary. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bezoar
borage
, Boraginaceae
: Borage is from medieval Latin borago, a word first seen in Constantinus Africanus who was an 11th century Latin medical writer and translator whose native language was Arabic and who drew from Arabic medical sources. Today's etymology dictionaries almost all suppose the word to be from Arabic and the most popular theory is that he took it from أبو عرق abū ʿaraq = "sweat inducer", as tea made from borage leaves has a sweat-inducing (diaphoretic) effect and the word would be pronounced būaraq in Arabic. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/borage The Boraginaceae botanical family is named after the borage plant.
borax
, borate
, boron
: بورق būraq, various salts (including borax) used as fluxes in metalworking
. (The Arabic is said to be from Persian burah, a word that may have meant potassium nitrate or another fluxing agent). Borax was adopted in Latin in the 12th century, with the same meaning as the Arabic, and the substance that the word could refer to was still varied and unsettled until the 18th century. Elemental boron was isolated and named from borax in the early 19th. The variant of borax called Tincalconite
gets its name from medieval Arabic tinkār = "borax" conjoined with ancient Greek konis = "powder". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/borax
, calipers : قالب qālib, mold
. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/caliber
camphor
: كافور kāfūr, camphor from the East Indies tree Cinnamomum camphora. The medieval Arabs imported camphor by sea from the East Indies for aromatic uses and medical uses. In the West the word's early records are found in medieval Latin medical books. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/camphor Another Asian tree import which had both aromatic and medical uses in late medieval Europe and had Arabic word ancestry is Sandalwood
, from Arabic صندل sandal. The Arabs got the words in the Indies along with the goods.
candy
: قندي qandī, sugared. Arabic is from Persian qand = "cane [sugar]", and possibly from Sanskritic before that, since cane sugar developed in India. "Candi" entered all the Western languages in the later medieval centuries. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/candy
carat (mass)
, carat (gold purity)
: قيراط qīrāt, a very small unit of weight, defined as one-twentyfourth (1/24) of the weight of a certain coin namely the medieval Arabic gold dinar
, and alternatively defined by reference to a weight of (e.g.) 4 barley seeds. The medieval Arabic word had an ancient Greek root keration, also denoting a small unit of weight. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/carat
caraway (seed)
: كرويا karawiyā, caraway seed. Spelled "caraway" in English in the 1390s in a cookery book. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/caraway
carob (seed) : خرّوب kharrūb, the edible bean of the carob tree. Carobs were used in medieval medicine and the word is in medical books by for example Ibn Sina, Al-Razi
, Serapion the Younger
, Lanfranc of Milan
, and Guy de Chauliac
. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/carob
carrack
: this is an old type of sailing ship, from qarāqīr plural of قرقور qurqūr, "merchant ship". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/carrack. Another old type of sailing ship with Arabic word-origin is the Xebec
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/xebec. Another is the Felucca
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/felucca. Another is the Dhow
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dhow.
checkmate
, check, exchequer
, chess
, chequered, unchecked, checkout, checkbox ... : The many uses of the word "check" in English are all descended from Persian shah = king and the use of this word in the game of chess. Chess was introduced to Europe by Arabs, who pronounced the last h in الشاه shāh hard, giving rise to the 12th century French form eschac and then eschec, which the English is derived from. (Similarly Persian burah -> Arabic buraq -> French borax) http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/check
cipher
, decipher
: صفر sifr, zero. Cipher came to Europe with Arabic numerals
. Original meaning zero, then any numeral, then numerically encoded message. The last meaning, and decipher, dates from the 1520s in English, 1490s in French, 1470s in Italian. But in English cipher also continued to be used as another word for zero until the 19th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cipher
civet (mammal)
, civet (perfume)
: زبد zabad, foam, spume; qaṭṭ al-zabād, "the spume cat", referring to a musky perfume taken from a gland in the animal. Seen in 14th century Italian spelled zibetto. Early usage in West was for the civet musk perfume. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/civet For musk Arabic uses the word مسك misk (the English does not come from the Arabic). The plant genus Abelmoschus
got its name from Arabic حبّ المسك habb el-misk, "the musk seed", which was used to make a musk perfume. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/abelmosk
coffee
, café
: قهوة qahwa, coffee. Qahwa (itself of uncertain origin) begot Turkish kahveh which begot Italian caffè. The latter form entered most Western languages in and around the early 17th century. The early 17th century West also has numerous records in which the word-form was directly from the Arabic, e.g. Cahoa in 1610, Cahue in 1615, Cowha in 1619. Turkish phonology
does not have a 'W'. The change from 'W' to 'V' in going from Arabic qahwa to Turkish kahveh can be seen in many other loanwords going from Arabic into Turkish (such as Arabic fatwa
--> Turkish fetva). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/coffee Cafe mocha
, a type of coffee, is named after the city of Mocha, Yemen
, which was an early coffee exporter. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mocha
cork
: The earliest records in England are 1303 "cork" and 1342 "cork" meaning bulk cork bark imported from Iberia. The word is believed to have come from a Spanish form "alcorque". This Spanish "al-" word cannot be found in Arabic writings, but almost all etymology dictionaries nevertheless state that it is almost surely from Arabic because of the "al-". The ancient Romans used cork and called it, among other names, "cortex" (literally "bark"), which is the likely ultimate origin. Crossref modern Spanish :es:alcornoque = "cork tree" and :es:corcho = "cork material" (corcho is not from Arabic). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cork
cotton
: قطن qutun, cotton. This word entered the Romance languages in the mid-12th century and English a century later. Cotton fabric was known to the ancient Romans but it was rare in the Romance-speaking lands until imports from the Arabic-speaking lands in the later medieval era at transformatively lower prices. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cotton
crimson
, carmine
: قرمزي qirmizī, color of a certain red dye widely used in the later medieval centuries for dyeing silk and wool. See kermes in this list. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/crimson
curcuma (plant genus)
, curcumin (yellow dye)
, curcuminoid (chemicals) : كركم kurkum, meaning ground turmeric
root, also saffron. Medieval Arabic dictionaries say it is used as a yellow dye and used as a medicine. A medical book in English around 1425 says "cucurme" is another word for "turmeryte" (turmeric). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/curcuma
, damask rose (flower) : دمشق dimashq, Damascus
. The city name Damascus is very ancient and not Arabic. The damson plum – earlier called also the damask plum and damascene plum – has a word-history in Latin that goes back to the days when Damascus was part of the Roman empire and so it is not from Arabic. On the other hand, the damask fabric and the damask rose emerged in the Western languages when Damascus was an Arabic-speaking city; and apparently they referred to goods originally resold from or made in Arabic Damascus. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/damask
elixir
: الإكسير al-'iksīr, alchemical philosopher's stone
. The Arabs took the word from the Greek xērion (then prepended Arabic al- = the) which had entered Arabic with the meaning of a healing powder for wounds. The word's Arabic alchemy sense entered Latin in the 12th century. Elixir is in all European languages today. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/elixir
erg (landform)
, hamada (landform)
, sabkha (landform)
, wadi (landform)
: عرق ''ʿerq, sandy desert landscape. حمادة ḥamāda, craggy desert landscape with very little sand. Those words are established in geology including sedimentology
. Their entrypoint was in late 19th century studies of the Sahara Desert. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/erg
سبخة sabkha meaning coastal salt-flat terrain came into general use in sedimentology following now-classic 1960s studies of the coastal salt flats of the U.A.E. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sabkha
وادي wādī, a river valley or gully. In English, a wadi is a non-small gully that is dry, or dry for most of the year, in the desert. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wadi
fennec (desert fox) : فنك fenek, fennec fox. European naturalists borrowed it in the late 18th century. (In older Arabic writings, fenek also designated various other mammals). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fennec
fustic (yellow dye) : فستق fustuq, pistachio. In medieval Spain a dye from the wood of a certain tree was in use. The dye's Spanish name fustet was derived from Arabic fustuq according to most of today's dictionaries. After the discovery of America a better (more durable) yellow dye from a tree wood was found and given the same name. A derived technical term in chemistry is fustin
. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fustic
, whose earliest record is 1422. Arabic ghirbāl = "sieve" looks like its own root is in the late classical Latin cribellum = "sieve" (ancestor of English cribble = "sieve"). The change from cribellum to ghirbal involves transposing ri to ir. Transpositions of a comparable kind including some going in the other direction are seen in the loanwords apricot, crimson, safflower, scarlet, and talisman on this page; the Arabic dirham
money unit comes from the ancient Greek word drachma. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/garble
gauze
: قزّ qazz, raw silk – the dictionaries say this is an uncertain theory for the word's origin but they appear to be almost unanimous the word very probably comes from medieval Arabic somehow. "The word, like so many names of supposed Oriental fabrics, is of obscure origin and varying sense." Some speculate that the word originates from the ancient Middle Eastern coastal town of Gaza. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gauze
gazelle
: غزال ghazāl, gazelle. Entered Latin in the early 12th century as gazela. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gazelle
gerbil
, jerboa
, gundi
, jird : These are four different classes of rodents that are native to desert or semi-desert environments in North Africa and Asia, and not found natively in Europe. (1) 19th century European naturalists created "gerbil" as a Latinate diminutive of the word jerboa http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gerbil. (2) يربوع yarbūʿa = jerboa (17th century European borrowing) http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jerboa. (3) قندي qundī = gundi (18th century European borrowing) http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gundi. (4) جرد jird = jird (18th century European borrowing) http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jird.
ghoul
: غول ghūl, ghoul. Its first appearance in the West was in an Arabic-to-French translation of the Arabian Nights tales in 1712. Its first appearance in English was in a popular novel, Vathek, an Arabian Tale by William Beckford, in 1786. Ghouls appear in English translations of the Arabian Nights tales in the 19th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ghoul
giraffe
: زرافة zarāfa, giraffe. Arabic entered Italian and French in the late 13th century. The Arabic dictionary of Al-Jawhari
(died 1003) tersely said al-zarāfa is "a type of creature". Two Arabic dictionaries of the 13th century speak of the neck of the creature. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/giraffe
guitar
: قيتارة qītāra, a kind of guitar. "The name reached English several times, including 14th century giterne from Old French. The modern word is directly from Spanish guitarra, from Arabic qitar." (Etymonline.com). The Arabic is descended from ancient Greek kithara
(which might be connected to ancient Persian Tar
meaning string, and string instrument). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/guitar
: هبوب habūb, gale wind. The English means a dense, short-lived, desert sandstorm created by an air downburst
. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/haboob
harem
:حريم harīm, women's quarters in a large household. The Arabic root-word means "forbidden" and thus the word had a connotation of a place where men were forbidden. (Crossref Persian and Urdu Zenana
for semantics.) 17th century English entered English through Turkish, where the meaning was closer to what the English is. In Arabic today harīm means womenkind in general. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/harem
hashish
: حشيش hashīsh, hashish. Hashish has the literal meaning "dried herb" and "grass" in Arabic. Its earliest record as a nickname for cannabis is in 12th or 13th century Arabic. Earliest record in English is in a traveller's report in 1598. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hashish
henna
, alkanet, alkannin
, Alkanna
: الحنّاء al-hinnā, henna. Henna is a reddish natural dye made from the leaves of Lawsonia inermis. The English dates from about 1600 and came directly from Arabic. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/henna Alkanet dye is a reddish natural dye made from the roots of Alkanna tinctoria and this word is 14th century English from Spanish alcaneta | alcana, and medieval Latin alchanna, from al-hinnā. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alkanet
hookah
(water pipe for smoking): حقّة ḥuqqa, pot or jar. The English word came from India. More information at hookah
article. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hookah
hummus (food recipe)
: حمّص himmas, chickpea(s). Chickpeas were called himmas in medieval Arabic and were a frequently eaten food item. Himmas was later borrowed into Turkish as humus and entered English from Turkish in mid 20th century. The Turkish and English hummus means mashed chickpeas mixed with tahini and certain flavourings. In Arabic that is called himmas bil tahina. All evidence points to the origin of the recipe in Syria and Lebanon. See hummus
. See also Addendum for Middle Eastern cuisine words below. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hummus
ifrit (mythology)
: عفريت ''ʿifrīt, an ancient demon popularized by the Arabian Nights tales. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ifrit
jar (food or drink container)
: جرّة jarra, earthen vase. First records in English are in 1418 and 1421 as a container for olive oil. Spanish jarra has 13th century records. Arabic jarra has records going back centuries earlier. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jar
jasmine
, jessamine: ياسمين yās(a)mīn, jasmine. The Arabic is from Persian. Seen in a 13th century Arabic-to-Latin translation spelled "iasiminum". The plant was first grown in England in the 16th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jasmine
jinn (mythology)
: الجن al-jinn. (The semantically related English genie
is not derived from jinn, though it has been influenced by it through the Arabian Nights tales). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jinn
julep (type of drink) : جلاب julāb, a syrupy drink. Arabic is from Persian gulab = "rose water". In its early use in English it was a syrupy drink. Like the words candy, sugar, and syrup, "julep" arrived in English in late medieval times in association with imports of cane sugar from Arabic-speaking lands. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/julep
jumper (dress or pullover sweater) : جبّة jubba, a loose outer garment. The Arabic entered mid-11th century Italian as jupa = "a jacket of oriental origin". Mid 12th century Latin juppum and late 12th century French jupe meant "jacket". So did the English 14th century ioupe | joupe, 15th century iowpe | jowpe, 17th century jup, juppe, and jump, 18th jupo and jump, 19th jump and jumper. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jumper
, kermes oak (tree)
, kermesite (mineral)
: قرمز qirmiz, kermes. Kermes insects produce a red dye that in medieval times was commercially valuable for dyeing clothes. In the Mediterranean region the insects' preferred food was the sap of the kermes oak tree. Two medieval Arabic dictionaries say al-qirmiz is an "Armenian
dye". Perhaps the word is ultimately from Sanskritic krmi-ja, "worm-produced". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kermes
khat
: قات qāt, the plant Catha edulis. English borrowed directly from Arabic in mid-19th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/khat
kohl (cosmetics)
: كحل kohl, finely powdered galena
, stibnite
, or similar sooty-colored powder used for eye-shadow, eye-liner, and mascara. The word with that meaning was in travellers' reports in English for centuries before it was adopted natively in English. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kohl
lacquer
: لكّ lakk, lacquer, or any resin used for varnishing. The Arabic is in turn from the Persian and Sanskrit for lac
, a particular kind of resin used to make a varnish. The Arabic entered late medieval Latin as lacca | laca. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lacquer Two lesser-seen varnishing resins with Arabic word-descent are sandarac
and elemi
. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/elemi
lemon : ليمون līmūn, (1) lemon, (2) any citrus fruit. The cultivation of lemons, limes, and bitter oranges was introduced to the Mediterranean Basin by the Arabs in the Middle Ages. The ancient Greeks & Romans knew the citron
, but not the lemon, lime, or orange. The lemon tree's native origin appears to be in India but the word "lemon" does not appear to be Indian. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lemon
lime (fruit)
: ليم līm, any citrus fruit, a back-formation or a collective noun associated with ليمون līmūn; see lemon. Spanish, Portuguese & Italian lima = "lime (fruit)". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lime Today's English "lime" has become a color-name as well as a fruit. It can be noted in passing that all the following English color-names are descended from Arabic words (not necessarily Arabic color-words): amber (color)
, apricot (color)
, aubergine (color), azure (color)
, coffee (color), crimson (color), carmine (color)
, henna (color), lemon (color)
, lime (color)
, orange (color), saffron (color)
, scarlet (color)
, tangerine (color)
.
luffa
: لوف lūf, luffa. Also spelled loofah in English. 19th century English. May be directly from Arabic, or indirectly by way of Latin botany nomenclature, or both. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/loofah
lute
: العود al-ʿaūd, the oud
. "The Portuguese form :pt:alaúde clearly shows the Arabic origin." Also Spanish alod in 1254, alaut in about 1330, laud in 1343. The earliest unambiguous record in English is in the 2nd half of the 14th century (Middle English Dictionary
). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lute
: مقرامة miqrāma, embroidered veil. The path to English was: Arabic -> Turkish -> Italian -> French -> English. 19th century English. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/macrame
magazine
: مخازن makhāzin (from khazan, to store), storehouses. Used in Latin with that meaning in 1228, the earliest record in a Western language. Still used that way in French, Italian and Russian. Sometimes used that way in English in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, but more commonly in English a magazine was an arsenal, a gunpower store, and later a receptacle for storing bullets. A magazine in the publishing sense of the word started out in English in the 17th century meaning a store of information about military or navigation subjects. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/magazine
marcasite
: مرقشيثا marqashīthā, iron sulfide, pyrite. An alchemy word. Used by Al-Razi in early 10th century and by Ibn Sina in early 11th century. The earliest record in a Western language seems to be in an Arabic-to-Latin translation by Gerard of Cremona
in the late 12th century. In modern English marcasite is defined as orthorhombic
iron sulfide. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/marcasite
massicot
: مسحقونيا mas[-]ḥaqūniyā, a lead-containing glaze applied in the manufacture of vases. In modern English massicot is defined as orthorhombic lead oxide
. The word's history goes back to medieval Latin massacuma, which had the meaning of a lead-based ceramics glazing material in Italy in the early 14th century, and which came from Arabic masḥaqūniyā meaning the same. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/massicot
mattress
, matelasse
: مطرح maṭrah, rug, large cushion. In Arabic the sense evolved out of the sense "something thrown down" from root tarah = "to throw". Classical Latin matta = "mat" is no relation. In 13th century Latin and Italian, followed by 14th century French and English, the mattress word usually meant a padded under-blanket, "a quilt to lie upon". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mattress, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/matelasse
mohair
, moiré : المخيّر al-mokhayyar, good-quality cloth made of goat hair. Earliest record in the West is 1542 Italian. Early English was spelled "mocayare", starting 1570. The mutation in English to "mohaire" is first seen in 1619. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mohair Moiré means a shimmering visual effect from an interweaved or grating
structure. It started out in French as a corruption of mohair. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/moire
monsoon
, typhoon : These words referred to wind and rain events off the coasts of India and China in their earliest use in Western languages and are seen first in Portuguese in early 16th century. Arabic sea-merchants were active in the East Indies long before the Portuguese arrived – see e.g. Islam in the Philippines
and camphor and benzoin in this list. موسم mawsim, season, used in Arabic for anything that comes round once a year (such as festive season, silking season, sailing season). طوفان tūfān, a big rainstorm, a deluge, and used in the Koran for Noah's Flood. For etymologies of how the two words were adopted by European sailors in the Far East see A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive, by Yule and Burnell (year 1903). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/monsoon http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/typhoon
mummy
: موميا mūmiyā, embalmed corpse; earlier, a bituminous embalming substance. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mummy
muslin
: موصلي mūṣilī, fine cotton fabric made in Mosul
in Mesopotamia. The word entered the West with that meaning in the 16th century. The fabric was imported from Aleppo
by Venetians, who called it mussolina. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/muslin
: نظير naẓīr, the point of the sky opposite the zenith. Crossref zenith in this list. Naẓīr literally means the complement or counterpart. "The Arabic 'z' here used is the 17th letter of the Arabic alphabet, an unusual letter with a difficult sound, which came to be rendered by 'd' in Low Latin." 13th century Latin. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nadir
natron
, natrium, kalium : The ancient Greeks had the word nitron with the meaning of naturally-occurring sodium carbonate and similar salts. The medieval Arabs adopted this word, spelled نطرون natrūn, and used it with that meaning. The modern word natron, meaning hydrated sodium carbonate, is descended from the Arabic. In Europe shortly after sodium was isolated as an element for the first time, in the early 19th century, sodium was given the scientific abbreviation Na from a created Latin name, initially natronium then natrium, which goes back etymologically to the Arabic natrūn (and then to the Greek nitron). Also in the early 19th century, elemental potassium was isolated for the first time and was soon afterwards given the scientific abbreviation K representing a created Latin name Kalium, which was derived from new Latin
Kali meaning potassium carbonate, which goes back etymologically to medieval Arabic al-qali, which for the Arabs could mean both potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate. Crossref alkali on this page. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/natron
orange
: نارنج nāranj, orange. Arabic descends from Sanskritic nāraṅga = "orange". The orange tree came from India. The Arabs introduced it to the Mediterranean region in the 10th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/orange
popinjay (parrot) : ببغاء babaghā', parrot. The change of Arabic 'b' to English 'p' also occurs in the loanwords Apricot, Calipers, Julep, Jumper, Serendipity, Spinach, and Syrup. French gai = "jay (bird)". The French papegai = "parrot" has a late 12th century start date. The English dates from one century later. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/popinjay
or racket (tennis) : The French :fr:raquette, Italian :it:racchetta, and the synonymous English racquet are usually accepted as derived from medieval Latin rascete which meant the bones of the wrist (carpus
). The earliest records of the Latin are in two 11th century Latin medical texts, one of which was by the Arabic-speaking Constantinus Africanus, whose work drew from Arabic medical sources. (Crossref borage). Today's etymology dictionaries all suppose the Latin to be from Arabic and the most popular theory derives it from راحة rāha(t) = "palm of the hand". A less popular theory derives it from رسغ rusgh = "bones of the wrist". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/racquet
realgar
: رهج الغار rahj al-ghār, arsenic sulfide. In medieval times, realgar was used as a rodent poison, as a corrosive, and as a red paint pigment. The ancient Greeks & Romans knew the substance. Other names for it in medieval Arabic writings include "red arsenic" and "rodent poison". Ibn al-Baitar in the early 13th century wrote: "Among the people of the Maghreb
it is called rahj al-ghār" (literally: "cavern powder"). The earliest records in the West are in 13th century Spanish spelled rejalgar, and 13th century Latin and Venetian spelled realgar. In English, Geoffrey Chaucer
spelled it resalgar in the 1390s. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/realgar
ream (quantity of sheets of paper) : رزمة rizma, bale, bundle. "All agree that this etymology has been completely established by Reinhart Dozy
." Late medieval Spain. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ream
roc (mythology): رخّ rukhkh, mythological bird in the Arabian Nights tales. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/roc
: Entered English in late 19th century from Swahili language
safari = "journey" which is from Arabic سفر safar = "journey". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/safari
safflower
: عصفر ''ʿusfur, safflower; or أصفر ''ʿasfar, (1) yellow, (2) safflower. The Arabic "fur" or "far" part mutated in Italian to "fiore" which is Italian for flower. The flower was commercially cultivated for use as a dye in the Mediterranean region in medieval times. In medieval Italian the spellings included asfiore, asfrole, astifore, affiore, and saffiore. In medieval Arabic the usual was ''ʿusfur, a word formally related to ''ʿasfar = "yellow". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/safflower
saffron
:زعفران zaʿfarān, saffron. The ancient Romans used saffron but called it "crocus". The word saffron is first seen in Latin in 1156. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/saffron
saphena (saphenous vein) : سافين sāfīn or صافن ṣāfin, saphenous vein. The word is first seen in Ibn Sina's The Canon of Medicine
, 11th century. The saphenous veins were among the more commonly used veins in medieval bloodletting
. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/saphena
sash (ribbon)
: شاش shāsh, wrap of muslin. (Crossref muslin which entered English near the same time). The early records in English include this comment from an English traveller in the Middle East in year 1615: "All of them wear on their heads white shashes.... Shashes are long towels of Calico wound about their heads." In Arabic today shāsh means gauze. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sash
scarlet (color)
: * سقيرلاط * saqirlāṭ, "fine cloth" (fine cloth of various colors but red most common). The wordform siqillāṭ also sijillāṭ is well attested in Arabic from the early 9th century onward and it came from a Late Classical Latin and early medieval Greek word sigillatus meaning cloth decorated with seals (from Latin sig-, sign). The mutated form saqirlāṭ is actually unattested in Arabic and it has been theoretically reconstructed from an attestation in Mozarabic about year 1000. The latter form is believed to be the source of the Latin scarlata, first seen about 1100, meaning fine cloth, expensively dyed bright cloth. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/scarlet The red dye was usually kermes a.k.a. crimson.
sequin
: صكّة | سكّة sikka, a minting die for coins, and also meaning coinage in general. In its early use in English, sequin was the name of Venetian and Turkish gold coins. "The word might well have followed the coin into oblivion, but in the 19th century it managed to get itself applied to the small round shiny pieces of metal applied to clothing." http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sequin
serendipity
: A word created in English in 1754 from Serendip, an old fairy tale place, from سرنديب Serendīb, an old Arab word for Sri Lanka. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/serendipity Fortified by its resemblance to the etymologically unrelated Latin word "serenity".
sheikh
: شيخ shaīkh, sheikh. It has been in English since the 17th century meaning an Arab sheikh. In the 20th century it took on a slangy additional meaning of "strong, romantic man". This is attributed to a hit movie, "The Sheik (film)
", 1921, starring Rudolph Valentino
, and after the movie was a hit the book it was based on became a hit, and spawned imitators. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sheikh
soda, sodium
: Soda first appears in the Western languages in late medieval Latin and Italian. It is most often said to be from سوادة suwwāda, سويد suwayd, or سويدة suwayda, one or more species of plant growing in salty environments (saltwort
s) whose ashes yielded sodium carbonate to be used as an ingredient in glass-making. (See the saltwort Suaeda
). That etymon suffers from poor documentary evidence but still an Arabic origin looks most likely. The name "sodium" was derived from soda in early 19th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/soda
sofa
: صفّة soffa, a bench or dais
. The Arabic was adopted into Turkish, and from Turkish it entered Western Europe in the 16th century meaning an oriental-style dais with rugs and cushions. Today's meaning of sofa is dated to late 17th century French and early 18th century English. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sofa
spinach
: إِسبناخ isbinākh in Andalusian Arabic, and إِسفاناخ isfānākh in eastern classical Arabic, from Persian aspanākh, spinach. "It was the Arabs who introduced the spinach into Spain, whence it spread to the rest of Europe." The first records in English are around year 1400 (as documented in the Middle English Dictionary
). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/spinach
sugar
: سكّر sukkar, sugar. The word is ultimately from Sanskritic sharkara = "sugar". Cane sugar developed in ancient India originally. It was produced by the medieval Arabs on a pretty large scale. History of sugar
. Among the earliest records in English are these entries in the account books of an abbey in Durham: year 1302 "Zuker Marok", 1309 "succre marrokes", 1310 "Couker de Marrok", 1316 "Zucar de Cypr[us]". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sugar
sultan
, sultana : سلطان soltān, authority, ruler. The first ruler to use Sultan as a formal title was an Islamic Turkic-speaking ruler in Central Asia around the year 1000. He borrowed the word from Arabic. Caliph
, emir
, qadi
, and vizier
are other Arabic-origin words connected with rulers. Their use in English is mostly confined to discussions of Middle Eastern history. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sultan
sumac
: سمّاق summāq, sumac, species of shrub or its fruit (Rhus coriaria
). In the medieval era sumac was used in herbal medicine and in leather making and as a dye. Al-Muqaddasi
(died 1000) mentions it as one of the commercial crops of Syria. The word is on record in 10th century Latin and as such it is one of the earliest loanwords on this list. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sumac
Swahili : سواحل sawāhil, coasts (plural of sāhil, coast). The Swahili language
is grammatically a Bantu language, with about one-third of its vocabulary taken from Arabic. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/swahili Another non-Arabic language with a lot of Arabic vocabulary that draws the name of the language from an Arabic word is Mahl, the language of the Maldives Islands.
syrup
, sherbet, sorbet : شراب sharāb, a word with two senses in Arabic, "a drink" and "syrup", and medieval Arabic medical writers used it to mean a syrupy medicinal potion. It was passed into medieval Latin in the 12th century as siroppus, a thickly sweetened drink, a syrupy medicinal potion. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/syrup The change from' sh-' to ' s-' in going from sharāb to siroppus reflects the fact that Latin phonology
did not use an' sh-' sound natively. The ' -us' of siroppus is a carrier of Latin grammar and no more. Separately from sirup, in the 16th century the same Arabic rootword re-entered the West from Turkish as "sherbet", a sweetened fruity drink http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sherbet. The form "sorbet" is a mutant of "sherbet" and was formed in Italian from the Turkish http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sorbet.
: طبل tabl, drum. English tabla is from Hindi tabla which is from Arabic tabl, which in Arabic has been the usual word for drum (noun and verb) since the beginning of written records. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tabla
tahini
: طحينة tahīna, tahini. Derives from the Arabic verb for "grind" and is related to tahīn = "flour". Entered English directly from Arabic around year 1900. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tahini
talc
: طلق ṭalq, mica
or talc. An alchemy word. Common in medieval Arabic. Documented in Latin from around 1300 onward, but not common in the West until the later 16th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/talc
talisman
: طلسم ṭilsam | ṭilasm, meaning an incantation
and later on meaning a talisman. The Arabic was from Greek telesma = "consecration ceremony". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/talisman
tamarind
: تمر هندي tamr hindī, "date of India". Entered medieval Latin medical texts from Arabic medical texts. In English the early records are 15th century translations of Latin medical texts. Tamarind's medical uses were various. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tamarind
tanbur
, tanbura
, tambur, tambura
, tambouras
, tamburica, tembûr
: These are plucked string musical instruments, each defined a little distinctively. From Arabic طنبور ṭunbūr (also ṭanbūr), string instrument. The tambourine, a percussive instrument, is not likely to be etymologically related. Likewise tambour = "drum" is either unrelated to tambur = "string instrument" or else the relation is poorly understood. With regard to the string instrument, the same word is in Persian and Arabic, and the dictionaries generally report the Persian to be from the Arabic. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tamboura
tangerine
: طنجة Tanja, port city in Morocco: Tangier
("Tanger" in most European languages). Tangerine oranges or mandarin oranges were not introduced to the Mediterranean region until the early 19th century. The English word "tangerine" arose in the UK in the early 1840s from shipments of tangerine oranges from Tangier and the word origin was in the UK. The Arabic name for a tangerine is unrelated. The city existed in pre-Arabic times named "Tingi". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tangerine
tare (weight)
: طرحة ṭarha, a discard (something discarded; from root tarah, to throw). Seen used in government regulations of the grocery trade in Paris in 1311. The tare weight is defined as the weight of a package that's empty. To get the net weight of goods in a package, you weigh the goods in their package, which is the gross weight, and then discard the tare weight. The word is seen in Spanish around 1400 in the form atara, which helps affirm Arabic ancestry. It is spelled tara in today's Spanish, Italian, German, and Russian. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tare
tariff
: تعريف taʿrīf, notification, specification (from ''ʿarraf, to notify). In late medieval Mediterranean commerce it meant a statement of inventory on a merchant ship (bill of lading
), or any tabular statement of prices and products (or services) offered for sale. In use by Italian-speaking merchants in the 14th century. Entered French and English in the 16th. (Spanish tarifa is not on record before the late 17th). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tariff
tarragon (herb)
: طرخون ṭarkhūn, tarragon. The word with that sense was used by Al-Razi (died 930) and Ibn Sina (died 1037). It was used later in medieval Latin in a herbal medicine context spelled altarcon, tarchon and tragonia. Records for French targon, Italian tarcone, Spanish tarragoncia, English tarragon and German Tragon all start in the 16th century and in a culinary context. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tarragon
tazza
, demitasse
: طاسة ṭāsa | طسّة tassa, round, shallow, drinking cup or bowl. The word has been in all the western Romance languages since the 13th and 14th centuries. It was common in Arabic for many centuries before that. English had it as tass in the 16th century, which continued much later in colloquial use in Scotland, but today's tazza and demitasse came from Italian and French in the 19th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tazza
tuna
: التون al-tūn, tunafish. Ancient Greek and classical Latin thunnus [= tunafish] -> medieval Arabic al-tūn -> medieval Spanish atún -> American Spanish tuna -> American English tuna. Note: Modern Italian tonno, French thon, and English tunny, each meaning tuna, are descended from the classical Latin without an Arabic intermediary. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tuna The Albacore
species of tunafish got its name from Spanish & Portuguese albacora, which might be from Arabic, which in Arabic might have designated tuna species but probably not albacore. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/albacore Bonito
is another tuna species. Some say this name may be a Spanish-ization of Arabic بينيث bainīth; others say it may be simply from Spanish bonito = "pretty good". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bonito
, Varanus (lizard genus) : ورل waral and locally (particularly in Algeria) ورن waran, varanoid lizard especially Varanus griseus
. In Europe in the 16th to 18th centuries it was usually spelled with an L, e.g. "varal" (1677, French), "oûaral" (1725, French), "worral" (1828 English dictionary), but certain influential writers in the early 19th century adopted the N spelling. The V in place of W reflects Latinization. Historically in Latin and Romance languages there was no letter W. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/varanus
zenith
: سمت الرأس samt al-rā's, meaning zenith, also vertex, and literally "top of the path". Origin in texts of astronomy in medieval Islam. Borrowed into Latin in the 12th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/zenith
zero : صفر sifr, zero. Medieval Arabic ṣifr -> Latin zephirum (used by Fibonacci
in 1202) -> Old Italian zefiro -> contracted to zero in Old Italian before 1485 (though the first record in Italian is 1491) -> French zéro 1485 -> English zero 1604; rare in English before 1800. Crossref cipher. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/zero
s ("Latin" names): Berberis
, Cakile
, Carthamus
, Ceterach
, Cuscuta
, Doronicum
, Galanga, Musa
, Nuphar
, Ribes
, Senna
, Sophora
, Taraxacum
, Usnea
, Physalis alkekengi
, Crataegus azarolus
, Melia azedarach
, Terminalia bellerica, Terminalia chebula
, Cheiranthus cheiri, Piper cubeba, Phyllanthus emblica, Peganum harmala, Salsola kali
, Prunus mahaleb
, Datura metel
, Daphne mezereum
, Cordia sebestena, Operculina turpethum
, Curcuma zedoaria. (List incomplete.)
About three-quarters of those botanical names were introduced to medieval Latin in a herbal medicine context. For instance the Arabic-to-Latin translation of Ibn Sina's The Canon of Medicine helped establish many Arabic plant names in Latin, especially of medicinal plants of tropical Asian source for which there had been no Latin or Greek name, such as azedarach, bellerica, emblica, metel, turpethum, and zedoaria. The Arabic-to-Latin translation of a book about medicating agents by Serapion the Younger
contained hundreds of Arabic loanwords, primarily botanicals. It circulated extensively in Latin among apothecaries in the 14th and 15th centuries. Medieval Arabic botany was primarily concerned with the use of plants for medicines. In a modern etymology analysis of one medieval Arabic medicinal formulary
(authorship attributed to Al-Kindi
, died 870, although perhaps partially or wholly of later date), the pharmacological names—primarily plant names—were assessed to be 31% ancient Mesopotamian names, 23% Greek names, 18% Persian, 13% Indian (often via Persian), 5% uniquely Arabic, and 3% Egyptian
, with the remaining 7% of unassessable origin.
18th century European taxonomists created a number of new Latin
plant names from Arabic names and these include Adenia
, Aerva
, Arnebia
, Ceruana
and many others by Forsskål; and Alchemilla
, Averrhoa
, Avicennia
, Lablab, and others by Linnaeus. (List incomplete). Some additional miscellaneous botanical names with Arabic ancestry include Abutilon
, Alhagi
, Argania, argel
, bonduc
, lebbeck
, Maerua
, Melochia
, Retama
, Sesbania
, seyal
. (List incomplete).
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/camlet, Cordovan http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cordovan, Marabou http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/marabou, Morocco leather
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/morocco, and Tabby http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tabby. Those have established Arabic ancestry. The following are six textile fabric words whose ancestry is not established and not adequately in evidence, but Arabic ancestry is entertained by many reporters. Five of the six have Late Medieval start dates in the Western languages and the sixth started in the 16th century. Buckram
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/buckram, Chiffon
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chiffon, Fustian
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fustian, Gabardine
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gaberdine, Satin
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/satin, and Wadding (padding)
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wadding. The fabric Taffeta
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/taffeta has provenance in 14th century French and Italian and comes ultimately from a Persian word for weaving, and it may have Arabic intermediation. Carthamin
is another old textile dye with Arabic etymology: قرطم qirtim | qurtum. The textile industry was the largest manufacturing industry in the Islamic countries in the medieval and early modern eras.
, Bulgur
, Couscous
, Falafel
, Fattoush
, Halva
, Hummus
, Kibbeh
, Kebab
, Lahmacun
, Shawarma
, Tabouleh, Tahini
, Za'atar
.... and some cuisine words of lesser circulation are Ful medames
, Kabsa
, Kushari
, Labneh, Mulukhiyah
, Ma'amoul
, Shanklish
, Taboon
, Tepsi Baytinijan
.... For more see Arab cuisine
.
, Darbouka, Khaleeji
, Maqam, Mawal
, Mizmar
, Oud
, Qanun
, Raï
, Raqs sharqi
, Takht
, Taqsim
.
: This word's earliest record is in Latin in 1267, where it meant a set of tables detailing movements of stars in the sky. A lot of medieval Arabic writings on astronomy exist, and they don't use the word almanac. (One of the words they do use is "zīj
"; another is "taqwīm
"). The 19th century Arabic-word-origin expert Reinhart Dozy
said about almanac: "To have the right to argue that it is of Arabic origin, one must first find a candidate word in Arabic" and he found none. The origin remains obscure. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/almanac
amalgam
, amalgamate: This word is first seen in the West in 13th century Latin alchemy texts, where it meant an amalgam of mercury with another metal. It lacks a plausible origin in terms of Latin precedents. Some dictionaries say the Latin was from Arabic الملغم al-malgham or probably was. But other dictionaries are unconvinced, and say the origin of the Latin is obscure. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amalgam
antimony
: This word was first used by Constantinus Africanus (crossref borage and racquet). He spelled it "antimonium". It may be a Latinized form of some Arabic name, but no clear precedent in Arabic has been found. The substance Constantinus called antimonium was well-known to the medieval Arabs under the names ithmid and kohl and well-known to the Latins under the name stibi | stibium. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/antimony
average
: The early meaning of the word was a lot different from what it is today. Weekley (1921) says: "The origin of the word is nautical and from the Mediterranean, which makes Arabic origin possible, but its etymology is still unsolved, though few words have received more etymological investigation." Some dictionaries today say the origin is unclear and others flatly say it has an Arabic origin. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/average.
barbican
: Outer fortification of a city or castle. Recorded in French in 1160. There seems to be little doubt that the word comes from the Crusades. Perhaps from باب خانه bab khanah = "gate-house". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/barbican
carafe
: First appearance in the West around 1500 in Italian, 1570 Spanish. The Arabic hypothesis is that the verb غرف gharf means to scoop up water for a drink, which you can do by cupping your hands together or by using any scooping or lifting tool at all, and the name of the tool can be the noun غرافة gharāfa. Gharāfa is a good fit phonologically, and can carry the semantics of an intermediate container for a drink, but the word is almost completely absent from Arabic writings and almost completely lacking in other support from history. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/carafe
drub : Probably from ضرب ḍarb, to beat, strike or hit with a cudgel. The English word "appears first after 1600; all the early instances, before 1663, are from travellers in the Orient, and refer to the bastinado." http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/drub
fanfare, fanfaronade : The English fanfare is from French fanfare, which is very probably from Spanish "fanfarria" and "fanfarrón" meaning bluster, grandstanding, and windbag, which is perhaps from Arabic "farfar" meaning yap-yapping (onomatopoeic). This derivation is insecure even though there is no other theory for the word's origin. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fanfare
gala: The English word is traceable to Spanish and Italian gala = "fine clothing worn on special occasions", which may be perhaps from خلعة khilʿa = "an honorary vestment", "a fine garment given as a presentation". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gala
genet/genetta
(nocturnal mammal) : Seen in 13th century English, 13th century French and Catalan, and 12th century Portuguese. It is absent from medieval Arabic writings. Nevertheless an oral dialectical Maghrebi Arabic source for the European word has been suggested. جرنيط jarnait = "genet" is attested in the 19th century in Maghrebi dialect. But the absence of attestation in any earlier century must make Arabic origin questionable. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/genet
hazard
: English + French hasard is attested in medieval times with the primary meaning of a game of dice. According to its etymology summary in a number of today's English dictionaries, it is probably descended via Spanish azar, attested 1283, from an unattested Arabic oral dialectical az-zār or az-zahr, "the dice". An alternative proposition, having the advantage of support in medieval Arabic dictionaries, derives it from Arabic يسر yasar = "playing at dice" and يسر yasar = ياسر yāsir = يسور yasūr = "gamester". The French hasard is attested more than a century earlier than the Spanish azar. It may not be from the Spanish. It may have entered French through the Crusader states of the Levant
(as French was the Crusaders' main vernacular). Or it may not be from Arabic at all. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hazard
lilac
: The earliest record of lilac in the West appears to be 1605 French. The earliest English is 1625. The early French and English had the exclusive meaning of the lilac tree (Syringa vulgaris). The word is widely taken as being descended from a Persian word for blueish color. The Persian is not attested meaning a tree or a flower; it is attested as a color. The Persian did not enter French directly, and a route of intermediation involving Arabic is a possibility. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lilac
mafia
: Mafia comes from Sicilian mafiusu. Further etymology uncertain and disputed. Some propose an Arabic root for mafiusu; others say the word history prior to 19th century is unknown. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mafia
mask
, masquerade, mascara
: Late medieval Italian maschera = "mask" and/or Spanish mascara = "mask" is/are the source for the French and English set of words. The source for the Italian and Spanish is highly uncertain. One possibility is the Arabic precedent مسخرة maskhara = "buffoon, jester". In the context where mask was used, "the sense of entertainment is the usual one in old authors" (theatrical masks). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mask
massage
: Perhaps from Arabic مس mas, to touch. Another possibility is from Greek massein, to knead. The English word comes from French. The French is not recorded before 1779. Today's standard French etymology source says "the fact that the word appeared chiefly in accounts of travels in the Orient [i.e. the Middle East] seems to preclude the hypothesis that it came from Greek." The practice of massage was common in the Middle East for centuries before it became common in the West in the mid-to-late 19th century (see Turkish bath) but the Arabic word for massage was a different word (tamsīd|tadlīk). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/massage
mizzen-mast : Mizzen (or mizen) is a type of sail or position of a sail mast. English is traceable to early 14th century Italian mezzana. Most dictionaries say the Italian word is a derivation from the classical Latin word medianus = "median", even though the sail is positioned to the rear. Weekley suggests "It is possible that the Italian word, taken as meaning "middle", is really adopted from Arabic mīzān [ميزان] = balance. "The mizen is, even now, a sail that 'balances,' and the reef
in a mizen is still called the 'balance'-reef." " The carrack sailing ship mentioned earlier, in its early 15th century form at least, had a mizzen. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mizzen
mortise
: The word's origin in 13th century France is without an explanation in terms of French or Latin linguistics. A number of dictionaries mention an Arabic hypothesis. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mortise
tartar (chemistry)
, tartrates : The chemical name tartar begins in 13th century Latin. It occurs often in late medieval Latin alchemy. Its origin is obscure. It is not in classical Latin or Greek in a chemical sense although there was a mythological hell called Tartarus
. Medieval Arabic dictionaries have the name دردي durdī with the same chemical sense as tartar and with records going back centuries earlier. Therefore an Arabic parent for "tartar" has been conjectured by Skeat, Weekley, Devic, and others. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tartar
tobacco
: The English word comes from Spanish. A majority of dictionaries say the Spanish comes from the Amerindian language of Haiti
. But Harper reports that "Spanish tabaco (also Italian tabacco) was a name of medicinal herbs from circa 1410, from Arabic tabbaq, attested since the 9th century as the name of various herbs. So the word may be a European one transferred to an American plant." http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tobacco
traffic
: Seen in Old Italian. A Mediterranean commerce word of unknown origin. Ernest Klein
(1967) suggests ultimate derivation from تفريق tafriq "distribution". Ernest Weekley
(1921) notes an Arabic hypothesis taraffaqa, "to seek profit". Walter Skeat (1888) says "origin uncertain, but almost surely Latin". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/traffic
zircon
, zirconium
: Today's definitions for zircon and zirconium were set by chemists in Germany around the year 1800. Medieval Arabic زرقون zarqūn was used to mean cinnabar
, red lead
, and similar minerals. The Arabic word is said to come from Persian zargun meaning golden-colored. The Arabic was clearly borrowed into Spanish as azarcon and Portuguese zarcão, but the connection between those and zircon is obscure. About half of the etymology dictionaries say zircon descends from zarqūn somehow, or probably does. The other half take the position that zircon's ancestry is not known beyond the late 18th century German word "Zirkon". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/zircon
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
) and then into English. Some of these Arabic loanword
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
s are not of ancient Arabic origin, but are loanwords within Arabic itself, coming into Arabic from Persian, Greek or other languages.
To qualify for this list, a word must be reported in leading etymology dictionaries as having an Arabic ancestor. A handful of etymology dictionaries has been used as the source for the list. In cases where the dictionaries disagree, the minority view is omitted. Rare and archaic words are also omitted. A bigger listing including many words very rarely seen in English is available at en.wiktionary.org.
Dozens of the stars in the night sky have Arabic name etymologies. These are listed separately at the list of Arabic star names article.
Words associated with Islam are listed separately at the glossary of Islam article.
Loanwords listed in alphabetical order
admiralAdmiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
: أمير amīr, commander. Amīr al-bihār = "commander of the seas" was a title in use in Arabic Sicily, and was continued by the Normans in Sicily in a Latinized form, and then adopted successively by Genoese and French. Modern French is "amiral". An English form under King Edward III (14th century) was "Amyrel of the Se". Insertion of the 'd' was doubtless influenced by allusion to common Latin "admire". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/admiral
adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
: الطوبة al-ṭūba | at-tūba, "the brick". The first record of the word in a Western language is in 12th century Spanish. It entered English from Mexico in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Arabic dictionary of Al-Jawhari dated about year 1000 made the comment that the Arabic word came from the Coptic language
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/adobe
albatross
Albatross
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes . They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific...
: الغطّاس al-ghaṭṭās, literally "the diver", presumably a cormorant or others of the pelecaniform birds, which are diving waterbirds. The derived Spanish alcatraz has its earliest record in 1386 as a type of pelican. "Alcatras" was in English in the 16th century borrowed from Spanish and did not include albatrosses. Beginning in the 17th century, every European language adopted "albatros" with a 'b' for these Pacific Ocean birds, the 'b' having been mobilized from Latinate alba = white. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/albatross
alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
: الكيمياء al-kīmiyā, alchemy. The Arabic entered medieval Latin as alchimia, first attested in about the year 1140 in an Arabic-to-Latin translation by Plato Tiburtinus
Plato Tiburtinus
Plato Tiburtinus was a 12th century Italian mathematician, astronomer and translator who lived in Barcelona from 1116 to 1138. He is best known for translating Hebrew and Arabic documents into Latin, and was apparently the first to translate information on the astrolabe from Arabic.Plato of...
. The Arabic word seems to have had its root in a late classical Greek word (the alchemy article has more details). The late medieval European words alchemy and alchemist gave rise in the 16th century to the words chemical and chemist, beginning in French and Latin. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alchemy
alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
: الكحل al-kohl, finely powdered kohl, especially stibnite
Stibnite
Stibnite, sometimes called antimonite, is a sulfide mineral with the formula Sb2S3. This soft grey material crystallizes in an orthorhombic space group. It is the most important source for the metalloid antimony...
. Crossref kohl in this list. The word with that meaning entered Latin in the 13th century. In 14th century Latin it could mean any finely ground and sifted material. In the later medieval Latin alchemy literature it took on the additional meaning of a purified material, or "quintessence", which was typically arrived at by distillation methods. The restriction to "quintessence of wine" (ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
) started with the alchemist Paracelsus
Paracelsus
Paracelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....
in the 16th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alcohol
alcove
Alcove
Alcove , a vault) is an architectural term for a recess in a room, usually screened off by pillars, balustrades or drapery.In geography and geology, the term Alcove is used for a wind-eroded depression in the side of a cliff of a homogenous rock type, famous from sandstones of the Colorado Plateau...
: القبّة al-qobba, "the vault" or cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
. That sense for the word is in an Arabic dictionary dated around year 1000 and the same sense is documented in Spanish alcoba around 1275. Spanish begot French, earliest record 1646, and French begot English. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alcove
alembic (distillation apparatus)
Alembic
An alembic is an alchemical still consisting of two vessels connected by a tube...
: الانبيق al-anbīq, "the still
Still
A still is a permanent apparatus used to distill miscible or immiscible liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor...
" (for distilling). The Arabic root is traceable to Greek ambix = "cup". The earliest chemical distillations were by Greeks in Alexandria in about the 3rd century (AD). Their ambix became the 9th century Arabic al-anbīq which became the 12th century Latin alembicus. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alembic
alfalfa
Alfalfa
Alfalfa is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop in the US, Canada, Argentina, France, Australia, the Middle East, South Africa, and many other countries. It is known as lucerne in the UK, France, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and known as...
: الفصفصة al-fisfisa, alfalfa. The Arabic entered medieval Spanish. In medieval Spain alfalfa had a reputation as the best fodder for horses. The ancient Romans grew alfalfa but called it an entirely different name; history of alfalfa. The English name started in the far-west USA in the mid-19th century from Spanish alfalfa. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alfalfa
algebra
Algebra
Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
: الجبر al-jabr, completing, or restoring broken parts. The mathematical sense comes from the title of the book "al-kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-jabr wa al-muqābala", "The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completing and Balancing" by the 9th century mathematician al-Khwarizmi. This algebra book was translated to Latin more than once in the 12th century. In medieval Arabic mathematics, al-jabr and al-muqābala were the names of the two main preparatory steps used to solve an algebraic equation; and the phrase "al-jabr and al-muqābala" came to mean "method of equation-solving". The medieval Latins borrowed the method and the names. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/algebra
algorithm
Algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
, algorism
Algorism
Algorism is the technique of performing basic arithmetic by writing numbers in place value form and applying a set of memorized rules and facts to the digits. One who practices algorism is known as an algorist...
: الخوارزمي al-khwārizmī, a short name for the mathematician Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi
'There is some confusion in the literature on whether al-Khwārizmī's full name is ' or '. Ibn Khaldun notes in his encyclopedic work: "The first who wrote upon this branch was Abu ʿAbdallah al-Khowarizmi, after whom came Abu Kamil Shojaʿ ibn Aslam." . 'There is some confusion in the literature on...
. The appellation al-Khwārizmī means "from Khwarizm". The Latinization of this name to "Algorismi" in the late 12th century gave rise to algorismus in the 13th. Until the late 19th century both algorismus and algorithm simply meant the "Arabic" decimal number system. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/algorithm
alidade : العضادة al-ʿiḍāda (from ''ʿiḍad, pivoting arm), a certain kind of surveying instrument whose usual context of use was in astronomy. Used by the astronomer Abū al-Wafā' Būzjānī (died 998). Word entered Latin in the Late Middle Ages. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alidade
alizarin
Alizarin
Alizarin or 1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone is an organic compound with formula that has been used throughout history as a prominent dye, originally derived from the roots of plants of the madder genus.Alizarin was used as a red dye for the English parliamentary "new model" army...
: العصارة al-ʿaṣāra, the juice (from ''ʿaṣar, to squeeze). Alizarin is a red dye. The origin and early history of the word alizarin is unclear, and a minority of dictionaries say the connection with al-ʿaṣāra is improbable. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alizarin
alkali
Alkali
In chemistry, an alkali is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal element. Some authors also define an alkali as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7. The adjective alkaline is commonly used in English as a synonym for base,...
: القلي al-qalī (from قلى qalā, to fry), an alkaline material derived from the ashes of plants. Particularly plants that grew on alkaline soils—see Salsola kali
Salsola kali
Kali soda is an annual plant that grows in arid soils and in sandy coastal soils. Its original range is Eurasian, but it has become naturalized, and even invasive, in North America, Australia, and elsewhere...
. Al-Jawhari (died 1003) said "al-qilī is obtained from glasswort
Glasswort
Salicornia is a genus of succulent, halophyte plants that grow in salt marshes, on beaches, and among mangroves. Salicornia species are native to North America, Europe, South Africa, and South Asia...
s". The Arabs used it as an ingredient in making soap, and making glass. Earliest record in the West is in a 13th century Latin alchemy text. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alkali
amber
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
, ambergris
Ambergris
Ambergris is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull gray or blackish color produced in the digestive system of and regurgitated or secreted by sperm whales....
: عنبر ''ʿanbar, meaning ambergris, i.e. a waxy material produced in the stomach of sperm whales and used historically for perfumery. The word passed into the Western languages in the mid medieval centuries with the same meaning as the Arabic. In the late medieval centuries the Western word took on the additional meaning of amber, from causes not understood. The word's two meanings – ambergris and amber – then co-existed for more than three centuries. "Ambergris" was coined to eliminate the ambiguity. But it wasn't until about 1700 that the ambergris meaning died out in English. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amber
anil
Añil
Indigofera suffruticosa, commonly known as Anil, Guatemalan indigo, Small-leaved indigo , West Indian indigo, and Wild indigo, is a flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae...
, aniline
Aniline
Aniline, phenylamine or aminobenzene is an organic compound with the formula C6H5NH2. Consisting of a phenyl group attached to an amino group, aniline is the prototypical aromatic amine. Being a precursor to many industrial chemicals, its main use is in the manufacture of precursors to polyurethane...
: النيل al-nīl | an-nīl, indigo dye
Indigo dye
Indigo dye is an organic compound with a distinctive blue color . Historically, indigo was a natural dye extracted from plants, and this process was important economically because blue dyes were once rare. Nearly all indigo dye produced today — several thousand tons each year — is synthetic...
. Arabic is in turn from Persian and Sanskrit nili, indigo dye. In English anil is a natural indigo dye or the plant that it is obtained from. Aniline is a technical word in dye chemistry dating from mid-19th century Europe. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/anil
apricot
Apricot
The apricot, Prunus armeniaca, is a species of Prunus, classified with the plum in the subgenus Prunus. The native range is somewhat uncertain due to its extensive prehistoric cultivation.- Description :...
: البرقوق al-birqūq, apricot. Arabic is in turn traceable back to Byzantine Greek and thence to classical Latin praecoqua, literally "precocious" and specifically precociously ripening peaches. The Arabic was passed onto the 14th century Portuguese albricoque and Catalan albercoc = "apricot". Seen in 1578 in English spelled abrecox. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/apricot
arsenal
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...
: دار الصناعة dār aṣ-ṣināʿa, house of manufacturing. "Ibn Khaldoun quotes an order of the Caliph Abdalmelic to build at Tunis a dār ṣināʿa for the construction of everything necessary for the equipment and armament of [seagoing] vessels." In English the early meaning was a dock-yard for repairing ships (16th century). This is still the meaning of the modern Italian :it:darsena. Modern Italian also has :it:arsenale meaning the storage of munitions. 14th century Italian included the spellings "tarcenale", "terzana", "arzana", "tersanaia".... From Italian and originally from the dock-yards of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
the word spread to every European language. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/arsenal
artichoke
Artichoke
-Plants:* Globe artichoke, a partially edible perennial thistle originating in southern Europe around the Mediterranean* Jerusalem artichoke, a species of sunflower with an edible tuber...
: الخرشوف al-kharshūf, artichoke. The word with that sense was used by for example Al-Razi
Al-Razi
Muhammad ibn Zakariyā Rāzī , known as Rhazes or Rasis after medieval Latinists, was a Persian polymath,a prominent figure in Islamic Golden Age, physician, alchemist and chemist, philosopher, and scholar....
(died 930). Early Spanish carchiofa (1423), Italian carciofjo (circa 1525) are reasonably close to the Arabic precedent and so are today's Spanish alcachofa, Italian carciofo. It is not clear how the word was corrupted to French artichault (1538), northern Italian articiocch (circa 1550), English artochock (1591), but all of the etymology dictionaries say it is a corruption. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/artichoke
assassin : حشاشين ḥashāshīn
Hashshashin
The Assassins were an order of Nizari Ismailis, particularly those of Persia that existed from around 1092 to 1265...
, an Arabic nickname for the Nizari
Nizari
'The Shī‘a Imami Ismā‘īlī Tariqah also referred to as the Ismā‘īlī or Nizārī , is a path of Shī‘a Islām, emphasizing social justice, pluralism, and human reason within the framework of the mystical tradition of Islam. The Nizari are the second largest branch of Shia Islam and form the majority...
branch of Ismailism in the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
during the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
era. This sect carried out assassinations against chiefs of other sects including Christians at the time and the story circulated in Europe. Generalization of the sect's nickname to the meaning of "assassin" happened in Italian after the Crusades era was over. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/assassin
attar (of roses)
Rose oil
Rose oil, meaning either rose otto or rose absolute, is the essential oil extracted from the petals of various types of rose...
: عطر ''ʿitr (plural: ''ʿutūr), perfume, aroma. The English word came from India in the late 18th century. The word is ultimately from Arabic. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/attar
aubergine
Aubergine
The eggplant, aubergine, melongene, brinjal or guinea squash is a plant of the family Solanaceae and genus Solanum. It bears a fruit of the same name, commonly used in cooking...
: الباذنجان al-bādhinjān, aubergine. The Arabic entered medieval Spanish, from which comes the modern Spanish berenjena = "aubergine" and Catalan albergínia = "aubergine". The French aubergine came from the Catalan form. It embodies a change from al- to au- that happened in French. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aubergine The aubergine food recipe name Moussaka
Moussaka
Moussaka is an eggplant based dish of the Balkans, Eastern Mediterranean, and the Middle East. The best known variation outside the region is the Greek one.-Names and etymology:...
is also of Arabic descent.
azimuth : السموت al-sumūt | as-sumūt, the paths, the directions. Origin in texts of Astronomy in medieval Islam and the Arabic version of the Astrolab instrument. Geoffrey Chaucer's 1390s English Treatise on the Astrolabe used the word many times. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/azimuth
azure (color)
Azure (color)
The color bleu de France is displayed at right.Bleu de France is a color that has been associated in heraldry with the Kings of France since the 12th century.-Brandeis blue:...
, lazurite (mineral)
Lazurite
Lazurite is a tectosilicate mineral with sulfate, sulfur and chloride with formula: 8[2|]. It is a feldspathoid and a member of the sodalite group. Lazurite crystallizes in the isometric system although well formed crystals are rare. It is usually massive and forms the bulk of the gemstone lapis...
: لازورد lāzward | lāzūard, lazurite and lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli is a relatively rare semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense blue color....
, a rock with a vivid blue color. In turn from "Lajward", the location of a large deposit of lapis lazuli in northeastern Afghanistan. The color azure without the initial 'L' was in all the western Romance languages in the later medieval centuries, and still is today, but it is spelled with the 'L' in today's Russian, Ukrainian and Polish (лазурь, lazur). "The 'L' is supposed to have been lost in the Romance languages through being taken as the definite article." http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/azure
B
benzoinBenzoin resin
Benzoin resin or styrax resin is a balsamic resin obtained from the bark of several species of trees in the genus Styrax. It is used in perfumes, some kinds of incense, as a flavoring, and medicine . Its principal component is benzoic acid...
, benzene
Benzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
: Benzoin is a resinous substance from an Indonesian tree. Medieval Arab sea-merchants shipped it to the Middle East for sale as perfumery and incense. The word is a great corruption of لبان جاوي labān jāwī, literally "frankincense of Java". In European chemistry, the 15th century benzoin resin became the source for the 16th century benzoic acid which became the source for the 19th century benzene. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/benzoin
bezoar
Bezoar
A bezoar is a mass found trapped in the gastrointestinal system , though it can occur in other locations. A pseudobezoar is an indigestible object introduced intentionally into the digestive system....
: بازهر bāzahr (from Persian pâdzahr), a ruminant
Ruminant
A ruminant is a mammal of the order Artiodactyla that digests plant-based food by initially softening it within the animal's first compartment of the stomach, principally through bacterial actions, then regurgitating the semi-digested mass, now known as cud, and chewing it again...
bolus
Bolus (digestion)
In digestion, a bolus is a mass of food that has been chewed at the point of swallowing. Once a bolus reaches the stomach, digestion begins....
. Today, a bezoar is a medical and veterinary term for a ball of indigestible material that collects in the stomach and fails to pass through the intestines. Goat boluses were recommended by medieval Arabic medical writers for use as antidotes to poisons. That is how the word first entered Latin medical vocabulary. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bezoar
borage
Borage
Borage, , also known as a starflower, is an annual herb originating in Syria, but naturalized throughout the Mediterranean region, as well as Asia Minor, Europe, North Africa, and South America. It grows to a height of , and is bristly or hairy all over the stems and leaves; the leaves are...
, Boraginaceae
Boraginaceae
Boraginaceae, the Borage or Forget-me-not family, include a variety of shrubs, trees, and herbs, totaling about 2,000 species in 146 genera found worldwide.A number of familiar plants belong to this family....
: Borage is from medieval Latin borago, a word first seen in Constantinus Africanus who was an 11th century Latin medical writer and translator whose native language was Arabic and who drew from Arabic medical sources. Today's etymology dictionaries almost all suppose the word to be from Arabic and the most popular theory is that he took it from أبو عرق abū ʿaraq = "sweat inducer", as tea made from borage leaves has a sweat-inducing (diaphoretic) effect and the word would be pronounced būaraq in Arabic. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/borage The Boraginaceae botanical family is named after the borage plant.
borax
Borax
Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. It is usually a white powder consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water.Borax has a wide variety of uses...
, borate
Borate
Borates are chemical compounds which contain oxoanions of boron in oxidation state +3. The simplest borate ion, BO33−, has a trigonal planar structure. Other borates are made up of trigonal BO3 or tetrahedral BO4 structural units, sharing oxygen atoms...
, boron
Boron
Boron is the chemical element with atomic number 5 and the chemical symbol B. Boron is a metalloid. Because boron is not produced by stellar nucleosynthesis, it is a low-abundance element in both the solar system and the Earth's crust. However, boron is concentrated on Earth by the...
: بورق būraq, various salts (including borax) used as fluxes in metalworking
Flux (metallurgy)
In metallurgy, a flux , is a chemical cleaning agent, flowing agent, or purifying agent. Fluxes may have more than one function at a time...
. (The Arabic is said to be from Persian burah, a word that may have meant potassium nitrate or another fluxing agent). Borax was adopted in Latin in the 12th century, with the same meaning as the Arabic, and the substance that the word could refer to was still varied and unsettled until the 18th century. Elemental boron was isolated and named from borax in the early 19th. The variant of borax called Tincalconite
Tincalconite
Tincalconite is a hydrous sodium borate mineral closely related to borax, and is a secondary mineral that forms as a dehydration product of borax. Its formula is Na2B4O7·5H2O or Na2[B4O54]·3H2O.Tincalconite typically occurs as a fine grained white powder...
gets its name from medieval Arabic tinkār = "borax" conjoined with ancient Greek konis = "powder". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/borax
C
caliberCaliber
In guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....
, calipers : قالب qālib, mold
Molding (process)
Molding or moulding is the process of manufacturing by shaping pliable raw material using a rigid frame or model called a pattern....
. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/caliber
camphor
Camphor
Camphor is a waxy, white or transparent solid with a strong, aromatic odor. It is a terpenoid with the chemical formula C10H16O. It is found in wood of the camphor laurel , a large evergreen tree found in Asia and also of Dryobalanops aromatica, a giant of the Bornean forests...
: كافور kāfūr, camphor from the East Indies tree Cinnamomum camphora. The medieval Arabs imported camphor by sea from the East Indies for aromatic uses and medical uses. In the West the word's early records are found in medieval Latin medical books. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/camphor Another Asian tree import which had both aromatic and medical uses in late medieval Europe and had Arabic word ancestry is Sandalwood
Sandalwood
Sandalwood is the name of a class of fragrant woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades. As well as using the harvested and cut wood in-situ, essential oils are also extracted...
, from Arabic صندل sandal. The Arabs got the words in the Indies along with the goods.
candy
Candy
Candy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added...
: قندي qandī, sugared. Arabic is from Persian qand = "cane [sugar]", and possibly from Sanskritic before that, since cane sugar developed in India. "Candi" entered all the Western languages in the later medieval centuries. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/candy
carat (mass)
Carat (mass)
The carat is a unit of mass equal to 200 mg and is used for measuring gemstones and pearls.The current definition, sometimes known as the metric carat, was adopted in 1907 at the Fourth General Conference on Weights and Measures, and soon afterward in many countries around the world...
, carat (gold purity)
Carat (purity)
The karat or carat is a unit of purity for gold alloys.- Measure :Karat purity is measured as 24 times the purity by mass:where...
: قيراط qīrāt, a very small unit of weight, defined as one-twentyfourth (1/24) of the weight of a certain coin namely the medieval Arabic gold dinar
Gold Dinar
The gold dinar is a gold coin first issued in 77 AH by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The name is derived from denarius, a Roman currency...
, and alternatively defined by reference to a weight of (e.g.) 4 barley seeds. The medieval Arabic word had an ancient Greek root keration, also denoting a small unit of weight. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/carat
caraway (seed)
Caraway
Caraway also known as meridian fennel, or Persian cumin is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe and Northern Africa....
: كرويا karawiyā, caraway seed. Spelled "caraway" in English in the 1390s in a cookery book. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/caraway
carob (seed) : خرّوب kharrūb, the edible bean of the carob tree. Carobs were used in medieval medicine and the word is in medical books by for example Ibn Sina, Al-Razi
Al-Razi
Muhammad ibn Zakariyā Rāzī , known as Rhazes or Rasis after medieval Latinists, was a Persian polymath,a prominent figure in Islamic Golden Age, physician, alchemist and chemist, philosopher, and scholar....
, Serapion the Younger
Serapion the Younger
Serapion the Younger was an Arabic medical writer who wrote in the 12th century . He is called "the Younger" to distinguish him from Serapion the Elder, aka Yahya ibn Sarafyun, an earlier Arabic medical writer with whom he was often confused...
, Lanfranc of Milan
Lanfranc of Milan
The surgeon Lanfranc of Milan , variously called Guido Lanfranchi, Lanfranco, or Alanfrancus was a student of Guglielmo da Saliceto. Involved in the struggles of Guelphs and Ghibellines, he was exiled from Milan by Matteo I Visconti in 1290. He moved first to Lyons, then on to Paris...
, and Guy de Chauliac
Guy de Chauliac
Guy de Chauliac or Guigonis de Caulhaco was a French physician and surgeon who wrote a lengthy and influential treatise on surgery in Latin, titled Chirurgia Magna...
. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/carob
carrack
Carrack
A carrack or nau was a three- or four-masted sailing ship developed in 15th century Western Europe for use in the Atlantic Ocean. It had a high rounded stern with large aftcastle, forecastle and bowsprit at the stem. It was first used by the Portuguese , and later by the Spanish, to explore and...
: this is an old type of sailing ship, from qarāqīr plural of قرقور qurqūr, "merchant ship". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/carrack. Another old type of sailing ship with Arabic word-origin is the Xebec
Xebec
A xebec , also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that was used mostly for trading. It would have a long overhanging bowsprit and protruding mizzen mast...
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/xebec. Another is the Felucca
Felucca
A felucca is a traditional wooden sailing boat used in protected waters of the Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean including Malta, and particularly along the Nile in Egypt, Sudan, and also in Iraq. Its rig consists of one or two lateen sails....
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/felucca. Another is the Dhow
Dhow
Dhow is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with lateen sails used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Some historians believe the dhow was invented by Arabs but this is disputed by some others. Dhows typically weigh 300 to 500 tons, and have a...
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dhow.
checkmate
Checkmate
Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...
, check, exchequer
Exchequer
The Exchequer is a government department of the United Kingdom responsible for the management and collection of taxation and other government revenues. The historical Exchequer developed judicial roles...
, chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, chequered, unchecked, checkout, checkbox ... : The many uses of the word "check" in English are all descended from Persian shah = king and the use of this word in the game of chess. Chess was introduced to Europe by Arabs, who pronounced the last h in الشاه shāh hard, giving rise to the 12th century French form eschac and then eschec, which the English is derived from. (Similarly Persian burah -> Arabic buraq -> French borax) http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/check
cipher
Cipher
In cryptography, a cipher is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption — a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is encipherment. In non-technical usage, a “cipher” is the same thing as a “code”; however, the concepts...
, decipher
DECIPHER
DECIPHER is a web-based resource and database of array comparative genomic hybridization data from analysis of patient DNA. It documents submicroscopic chromosome abnormalities, including microdeletions and duplications, from over 6000 patients and maps them to the human genome using the Ensembl...
: صفر sifr, zero. Cipher came to Europe with Arabic numerals
Arabic numerals
Arabic numerals or Hindu numerals or Hindu-Arabic numerals or Indo-Arabic numerals are the ten digits . They are descended from the Hindu-Arabic numeral system developed by Indian mathematicians, in which a sequence of digits such as "975" is read as a numeral...
. Original meaning zero, then any numeral, then numerically encoded message. The last meaning, and decipher, dates from the 1520s in English, 1490s in French, 1470s in Italian. But in English cipher also continued to be used as another word for zero until the 19th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cipher
civet (mammal)
Civet
The family Viverridae is made up of around 30 species of medium-sized mammal, including all of the genets, the binturong, most of the civets, and the two African linsangs....
, civet (perfume)
Civetone
Civetone is a cyclic ketone and one of the oldest perfume ingredients known. It is a pheromone sourced from the African Civet. It has a strong musky odor that becomes pleasant at extreme dilutions. Civetone is closely related to muscone, the principal odiferous compound found in musk, because both...
: زبد zabad, foam, spume; qaṭṭ al-zabād, "the spume cat", referring to a musky perfume taken from a gland in the animal. Seen in 14th century Italian spelled zibetto. Early usage in West was for the civet musk perfume. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/civet For musk Arabic uses the word مسك misk (the English does not come from the Arabic). The plant genus Abelmoschus
Abelmoschus
Abelmoschus is a genus of about fifteen species of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae, native to tropical Africa, Asia and northern Australia. It was formerly included within Hibiscus, but is now classified as a distinct genus....
got its name from Arabic حبّ المسك habb el-misk, "the musk seed", which was used to make a musk perfume. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/abelmosk
coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, café
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
: قهوة qahwa, coffee. Qahwa (itself of uncertain origin) begot Turkish kahveh which begot Italian caffè. The latter form entered most Western languages in and around the early 17th century. The early 17th century West also has numerous records in which the word-form was directly from the Arabic, e.g. Cahoa in 1610, Cahue in 1615, Cowha in 1619. Turkish phonology
Turkish phonology
The phonology of the Turkish language describes the set of sounds and their relationships with one another in spoken Turkish. One characteristic feature of Turkish is a system of vowel harmony that distinguishes between front and back vowels. The majority of words in Turkish adhere to a system of...
does not have a 'W'. The change from 'W' to 'V' in going from Arabic qahwa to Turkish kahveh can be seen in many other loanwords going from Arabic into Turkish (such as Arabic fatwa
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
--> Turkish fetva). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/coffee Cafe mocha
Cafe Mocha
A caffè mocha or café mochaAs elsewhere in coffee naming, the Italian caffè and French café are commonly found, as are the hyperforeignisms caffé and cafè, which confuse the accents. Also, in Italian, the correct spelling is Moka, used both for the city and the Moka pot. "Mocha", by contrast, is...
, a type of coffee, is named after the city of Mocha, Yemen
Mocha, Yemen
Mocha or Mokha is a port city on the Red Sea coast of Yemen. Until it was eclipsed in the 19th century by Aden and Hodeida, Mocha was the principal port for Yemen's capital Sana'a.-Overview:...
, which was an early coffee exporter. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mocha
cork
Cork (material)
Cork is an impermeable, buoyant material, a prime-subset of bark tissue that is harvested for commercial use primarily from Quercus suber , which is endemic to southwest Europe and northwest Africa...
: The earliest records in England are 1303 "cork" and 1342 "cork" meaning bulk cork bark imported from Iberia. The word is believed to have come from a Spanish form "alcorque". This Spanish "al-" word cannot be found in Arabic writings, but almost all etymology dictionaries nevertheless state that it is almost surely from Arabic because of the "al-". The ancient Romans used cork and called it, among other names, "cortex" (literally "bark"), which is the likely ultimate origin. Crossref modern Spanish :es:alcornoque = "cork tree" and :es:corcho = "cork material" (corcho is not from Arabic). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cork
cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
: قطن qutun, cotton. This word entered the Romance languages in the mid-12th century and English a century later. Cotton fabric was known to the ancient Romans but it was rare in the Romance-speaking lands until imports from the Arabic-speaking lands in the later medieval era at transformatively lower prices. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cotton
crimson
Crimson
Crimson is a strong, bright, deep red color. It is originally the color of the dye produced from a scale insect, Kermes vermilio, but the name is now also used as a generic term for those slightly bluish-red colors that are between red and rose; besides crimson itself, these colors include...
, carmine
Carmine
Carmine , also called Crimson Lake, Cochineal, Natural Red #4, C.I. 75470, or E120, is a pigment of a bright-red color obtained from the aluminum salt of carminic acid, which is produced by some scale insects, such as the cochineal beetle and the Polish cochineal, and is used as a general term for...
: قرمزي qirmizī, color of a certain red dye widely used in the later medieval centuries for dyeing silk and wool. See kermes in this list. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/crimson
curcuma (plant genus)
Curcuma
Curcuma is a genus of about 80 accepted species in the plant family Zingiberaceae that contains such species as turmeric and Siam Tulip. The name comes from Arabic kurkum meaning "turmeric". Since assembly of the genus Curcuma by Linnaeus in 1753 about 130 species have been described so far...
, curcumin (yellow dye)
Curcumin
Curcumin is the principal curcuminoid of the popular Indian spice turmeric, which is a member of the ginger family . The other two curcuminoids are desmethoxycurcumin and bis-desmethoxycurcumin. The curcuminoids are natural phenols and are responsible for the yellow color of turmeric...
, curcuminoid (chemicals) : كركم kurkum, meaning ground turmeric
Turmeric
Turmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20 °C and 30 °C and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive...
root, also saffron. Medieval Arabic dictionaries say it is used as a yellow dye and used as a medicine. A medical book in English around 1425 says "cucurme" is another word for "turmeryte" (turmeric). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/curcuma
D-F
damask (textile fabric)Damask
Damask is a reversible figured fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibers, with a pattern formed by weaving. Damasks are woven with one warp yarn and one weft yarn, usually with the pattern in warp-faced satin weave and the ground in weft-faced or sateen weave...
, damask rose (flower) : دمشق dimashq, Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
. The city name Damascus is very ancient and not Arabic. The damson plum – earlier called also the damask plum and damascene plum – has a word-history in Latin that goes back to the days when Damascus was part of the Roman empire and so it is not from Arabic. On the other hand, the damask fabric and the damask rose emerged in the Western languages when Damascus was an Arabic-speaking city; and apparently they referred to goods originally resold from or made in Arabic Damascus. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/damask
elixir
Elixir
An elixir is a clear, sweet-flavored liquid used for medicinal purposes, to be taken orally and intended to cure one's ills. When used as a pharmaceutical preparation, an elixir contains at least one active ingredient designed to be taken orally....
: الإكسير al-'iksīr, alchemical philosopher's stone
Philosopher's stone
The philosopher's stone is a legendary alchemical substance said to be capable of turning base metals into gold or silver. It was also sometimes believed to be an elixir of life, useful for rejuvenation and possibly for achieving immortality. For many centuries, it was the most sought-after goal...
. The Arabs took the word from the Greek xērion (then prepended Arabic al- = the) which had entered Arabic with the meaning of a healing powder for wounds. The word's Arabic alchemy sense entered Latin in the 12th century. Elixir is in all European languages today. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/elixir
erg (landform)
Erg (landform)
An erg is a broad, flat area of desert covered with wind-swept sand with little or no vegetative cover. The term takes its name from the Arabic word ʿarq , meaning "dune field"...
, hamada (landform)
Hamada
A hamada is a type of desert landscape consisting of largely barren, hard, rocky plateaus, with very little sand. A hamada may sometimes also be called a reg , though this more properly refers to a stony plain rather than a highland.Hamadas exist in contrast to ergs, which are large areas of...
, sabkha (landform)
Sabkha
Sabkha is a transliteration of the Arabic word for a salt flat. Sabkhas are supratidal, forming along arid coastlines and are characterized by evaporite-carbonate deposits with some siliciclastics. Sabkhas form subaerial, prograding and shoaling-upward sequences that have an average thickness of a...
, wadi (landform)
Wadi
Wadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some cases, it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.-Variant names:...
: عرق ''ʿerq, sandy desert landscape. حمادة ḥamāda, craggy desert landscape with very little sand. Those words are established in geology including sedimentology
Sedimentology
Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, mud , and clay, and the processes that result in their deposition. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of modern processes to interpret geologic history through observations of sedimentary rocks and sedimentary...
. Their entrypoint was in late 19th century studies of the Sahara Desert. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/erg
سبخة sabkha meaning coastal salt-flat terrain came into general use in sedimentology following now-classic 1960s studies of the coastal salt flats of the U.A.E. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sabkha
وادي wādī, a river valley or gully. In English, a wadi is a non-small gully that is dry, or dry for most of the year, in the desert. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wadi
fennec (desert fox) : فنك fenek, fennec fox. European naturalists borrowed it in the late 18th century. (In older Arabic writings, fenek also designated various other mammals). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fennec
fustic (yellow dye) : فستق fustuq, pistachio. In medieval Spain a dye from the wood of a certain tree was in use. The dye's Spanish name fustet was derived from Arabic fustuq according to most of today's dictionaries. After the discovery of America a better (more durable) yellow dye from a tree wood was found and given the same name. A derived technical term in chemistry is fustin
Fustin
Fustin is a flavanonol, a type of flavonoid. It can be found in young fustic and in the lacquer tree ....
. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fustic
G
garble : غربل gharbal, to sift; غربال ghirbāl, a sieve. Entered English and French through Italian garbellare meaning to sift and cull. It was a frequently used word among spice merchants in late medieval times. Sifting and culling was the usual meaning in English until the 19th century. The earliest record in English is 1393. English "garble" is arguably the parent of English garbageGarbage
Garbage may refer to:*Waste, an unwanted or undesired material or substance*Garbage , unreferenced data in a computer's memory*Garbage , a rock musical ensemble**Garbage , the band's debut album...
, whose earliest record is 1422. Arabic ghirbāl = "sieve" looks like its own root is in the late classical Latin cribellum = "sieve" (ancestor of English cribble = "sieve"). The change from cribellum to ghirbal involves transposing ri to ir. Transpositions of a comparable kind including some going in the other direction are seen in the loanwords apricot, crimson, safflower, scarlet, and talisman on this page; the Arabic dirham
Dirham
Dirham or dirhem is a unit of currency in several Arab or Berber nations, and formerly the related unit of mass in the Ottoman Empire and Persian states...
money unit comes from the ancient Greek word drachma. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/garble
gauze
Gauze
Gauze is a thin, translucent fabric with a loose open weave.-Uses and types:Gauze was originally made of silk and was used for clothing. It is now used for many different things, including gauze sponges for medical purposes. When used as a medical dressing, gauze is generally made of cotton...
: قزّ qazz, raw silk – the dictionaries say this is an uncertain theory for the word's origin but they appear to be almost unanimous the word very probably comes from medieval Arabic somehow. "The word, like so many names of supposed Oriental fabrics, is of obscure origin and varying sense." Some speculate that the word originates from the ancient Middle Eastern coastal town of Gaza. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gauze
gazelle
Gazelle
A gazelle is any of many antelope species in the genus Gazella, or formerly considered to belong to it. Six species are included in two genera, Eudorcas and Nanger, which were formerly considered subgenera...
: غزال ghazāl, gazelle. Entered Latin in the early 12th century as gazela. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gazelle
gerbil
Gerbil
A gerbil is a small mammal of the order Rodentia. Once known simply as "desert rats", the gerbil subfamily includes about 110 species of African, Indian, and Asian rodents, including sand rats and jirds, all of which are adapted to arid habitats...
, jerboa
Jerboa
The jerboa form the bulk of the membership of the family Dipodidae. Jerboas are hopping desert rodents found throughout Asia and Northern Africa. They tend to be found in hot deserts....
, gundi
Gundi
Gundis are a group of small, stocky rodents found in Africa. They live in rocky deserts across the northern parts of the continent. The family comprises 4 living genera and 5 species , as well as numerous extinct genera and species...
, jird : These are four different classes of rodents that are native to desert or semi-desert environments in North Africa and Asia, and not found natively in Europe. (1) 19th century European naturalists created "gerbil" as a Latinate diminutive of the word jerboa http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gerbil. (2) يربوع yarbūʿa = jerboa (17th century European borrowing) http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jerboa. (3) قندي qundī = gundi (18th century European borrowing) http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gundi. (4) جرد jird = jird (18th century European borrowing) http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jird.
ghoul
Ghoul
A ghoul is a folkloric monster associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh, often classified as undead. The oldest surviving literature that mention ghouls is likely One Thousand and One Nights...
: غول ghūl, ghoul. Its first appearance in the West was in an Arabic-to-French translation of the Arabian Nights tales in 1712. Its first appearance in English was in a popular novel, Vathek, an Arabian Tale by William Beckford, in 1786. Ghouls appear in English translations of the Arabian Nights tales in the 19th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ghoul
giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
: زرافة zarāfa, giraffe. Arabic entered Italian and French in the late 13th century. The Arabic dictionary of Al-Jawhari
Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari
Abu Nasr Isma'il ibn Hammad al-Jawhari or al-Jauhari was the author of a notable Arabic dictionary. He was born in the city of Farab a.k.a. Otrar in Turkestan . He studied Arabic language first in Baghdad and then among the Arabs of the Hejaz. Then he settled in northern Khorasan...
(died 1003) tersely said al-zarāfa is "a type of creature". Two Arabic dictionaries of the 13th century speak of the neck of the creature. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/giraffe
guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
: قيتارة qītāra, a kind of guitar. "The name reached English several times, including 14th century giterne from Old French. The modern word is directly from Spanish guitarra, from Arabic qitar." (Etymonline.com). The Arabic is descended from ancient Greek kithara
Kithara
The kithara or cithara was an ancient Greek musical instrument in the lyre or lyra family. In modern Greek the word kithara has come to mean "guitar" ....
(which might be connected to ancient Persian Tar
Tar (lute)
The tār is a long-necked, waisted Iranian instrument. It has been adopted by other cultures and Azerbaijan. The word tar itself means "string" in Persian, though it might have the same meaning in languages influenced by Persian or any other branches of Iranian languages like Kurdish...
meaning string, and string instrument). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/guitar
H-I-J
haboob (sandstorm)Haboob
A haboob is a type of intense duststorm carried on an atmospheric gravity current. Haboobs are regularly observed in arid regions throughout the world. They have been observed in the Sahara desert , as well as across the Arabian Peninsula, throughout Kuwait, and in the most arid regions of Iraq...
: هبوب habūb, gale wind. The English means a dense, short-lived, desert sandstorm created by an air downburst
Downburst
A downburst is created by an area of significantly rain-cooled air that, after reaching ground level, spreads out in all directions producing strong winds. Unlike winds in a tornado, winds in a downburst are directed outwards from the point where it hits land or water...
. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/haboob
harem
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
:حريم harīm, women's quarters in a large household. The Arabic root-word means "forbidden" and thus the word had a connotation of a place where men were forbidden. (Crossref Persian and Urdu Zenana
Zenana
Zenana , refers to the part of a house belonging to a Muslim family in the Middle East and South Asia reserved for the women of the household. The Zenana are the inner apartments of a house in which the women of the family live...
for semantics.) 17th century English entered English through Turkish, where the meaning was closer to what the English is. In Arabic today harīm means womenkind in general. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/harem
hashish
Hashish
Hashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...
: حشيش hashīsh, hashish. Hashish has the literal meaning "dried herb" and "grass" in Arabic. Its earliest record as a nickname for cannabis is in 12th or 13th century Arabic. Earliest record in English is in a traveller's report in 1598. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hashish
henna
Henna
Henna is a flowering plant used since antiquity to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather and wool. The name is also used for dye preparations derived from the plant, and for the art of temporary tattooing based on those dyes...
, alkanet, alkannin
Alkannin
Alkannin is a natural dye that is obtained from the extracts of Alkanna tinctoria. The dye is used as a food coloring and in cosmetics. As a food additive it has the E number E103....
, Alkanna
Alkanna
Alkanna is a genus of herbaceous plants including about 60 species of the family Boraginaceae. The original alkanna plant is a native of the Levant but is now found, wild and cultivated, throughout much of Europe and around the Mediterranean....
: الحنّاء al-hinnā, henna. Henna is a reddish natural dye made from the leaves of Lawsonia inermis. The English dates from about 1600 and came directly from Arabic. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/henna Alkanet dye is a reddish natural dye made from the roots of Alkanna tinctoria and this word is 14th century English from Spanish alcaneta | alcana, and medieval Latin alchanna, from al-hinnā. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alkanet
hookah
Hookah
A hookah A hookah(Gujarati હૂકાહ) A hookah(Gujarati હૂકાહ) (Hindustani: हुक़्क़ा (Devanagari, (Nastaleeq) huqqah) also known as a waterpipe or narghile, is a single or multi-stemmed (often glass-based) instrument for smoking in which the smoke is cooled by water. The tobacco smoked is referred to...
(water pipe for smoking): حقّة ḥuqqa, pot or jar. The English word came from India. More information at hookah
Hookah
A hookah A hookah(Gujarati હૂકાહ) A hookah(Gujarati હૂકાહ) (Hindustani: हुक़्क़ा (Devanagari, (Nastaleeq) huqqah) also known as a waterpipe or narghile, is a single or multi-stemmed (often glass-based) instrument for smoking in which the smoke is cooled by water. The tobacco smoked is referred to...
article. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hookah
hummus (food recipe)
Hummus
Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6. The chickpeas make it a good source of protein and dietary fiber; the tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds, which are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine, complementing the proteins in the...
: حمّص himmas, chickpea(s). Chickpeas were called himmas in medieval Arabic and were a frequently eaten food item. Himmas was later borrowed into Turkish as humus and entered English from Turkish in mid 20th century. The Turkish and English hummus means mashed chickpeas mixed with tahini and certain flavourings. In Arabic that is called himmas bil tahina. All evidence points to the origin of the recipe in Syria and Lebanon. See hummus
Hummus
Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6. The chickpeas make it a good source of protein and dietary fiber; the tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds, which are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine, complementing the proteins in the...
. See also Addendum for Middle Eastern cuisine words below. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hummus
ifrit (mythology)
Ifrit
Ifrit—also spelled, efreet, ifreet, afreet, and afrit —are supernatural creatures in Arabic and Islamic cultures...
: عفريت ''ʿifrīt, an ancient demon popularized by the Arabian Nights tales. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ifrit
jar (food or drink container)
Jar
A jar is a rigid, approximately cylindrical container with a wide mouth or opening. Jars are typically made of glass, ceramic, or plastic. They are used for foods, cosmetics, medications, and chemicals that are relatively thick or viscous...
: جرّة jarra, earthen vase. First records in English are in 1418 and 1421 as a container for olive oil. Spanish jarra has 13th century records. Arabic jarra has records going back centuries earlier. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jar
jasmine
Jasmine
Jasminum , commonly known as jasmines, is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family . It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World...
, jessamine: ياسمين yās(a)mīn, jasmine. The Arabic is from Persian. Seen in a 13th century Arabic-to-Latin translation spelled "iasiminum". The plant was first grown in England in the 16th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jasmine
jinn (mythology)
Jinn
Jinn are supernatural beings in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings.Jinn may also refer to:* Jinn , a Japanese band* Qui-Gon Jinn, a character in the Star Wars universe...
: الجن al-jinn. (The semantically related English genie
Genie
Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
is not derived from jinn, though it has been influenced by it through the Arabian Nights tales). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jinn
julep (type of drink) : جلاب julāb, a syrupy drink. Arabic is from Persian gulab = "rose water". In its early use in English it was a syrupy drink. Like the words candy, sugar, and syrup, "julep" arrived in English in late medieval times in association with imports of cane sugar from Arabic-speaking lands. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/julep
jumper (dress or pullover sweater) : جبّة jubba, a loose outer garment. The Arabic entered mid-11th century Italian as jupa = "a jacket of oriental origin". Mid 12th century Latin juppum and late 12th century French jupe meant "jacket". So did the English 14th century ioupe | joupe, 15th century iowpe | jowpe, 17th century jup, juppe, and jump, 18th jupo and jump, 19th jump and jumper. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jumper
K-L
Kermes (insect genus), kermes (dye)Kermes (dye)
Kermes is a red dye derived from the dried bodies the females of a scale insect in the genus Kermes, primarily Kermes vermilio. The insects live on the sap of certain trees, especially Kermes oak tree near the Mediterranean region...
, kermes oak (tree)
Kermes Oak
Quercus coccifera, the Kermes Oak, is an oak in the Turkey oak section Quercus sect. Cerris. It is native to the western Mediterranean region and Northern African Maghreb, from Morocco and Portugal east to Libya and Greece.-Description:...
, kermesite (mineral)
Kermesite
Kermesite or antimony oxysulfide is also known as red antimony . The mineral’s color ranges from cherry red to a dark red to a black. Kermesite is the result of partial oxidation between stibnite and other antimony oxides such as valentinite or stibiconite...
: قرمز qirmiz, kermes. Kermes insects produce a red dye that in medieval times was commercially valuable for dyeing clothes. In the Mediterranean region the insects' preferred food was the sap of the kermes oak tree. Two medieval Arabic dictionaries say al-qirmiz is an "Armenian
Medieval Armenia
-Prelude:Western Armenia had been under Byzantine control since the partition of the Kingdom of Armenia in AD 387, while Eastern Armenia had been under the occupation of the Sassanid Empire starting 428. Regardless of religious disputes, many Armenians became successful in the Byzantine Empire and...
dye". Perhaps the word is ultimately from Sanskritic krmi-ja, "worm-produced". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kermes
khat
Khat
Khat, qat, gat or Waquish Spoken from true Yemeni, is a flowering plant native to tropical East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula....
: قات qāt, the plant Catha edulis. English borrowed directly from Arabic in mid-19th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/khat
kohl (cosmetics)
Kohl (cosmetics)
Kohl is an ancient eye cosmetic. It was made by grinding galena and other ingredients. It is widely used in South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of West Africa to darken the eyelids and as mascara for the eyelashes...
: كحل kohl, finely powdered galena
Galena
Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral.Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms...
, stibnite
Stibnite
Stibnite, sometimes called antimonite, is a sulfide mineral with the formula Sb2S3. This soft grey material crystallizes in an orthorhombic space group. It is the most important source for the metalloid antimony...
, or similar sooty-colored powder used for eye-shadow, eye-liner, and mascara. The word with that meaning was in travellers' reports in English for centuries before it was adopted natively in English. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kohl
lacquer
Lacquer
In a general sense, lacquer is a somewhat imprecise term for a clear or coloured varnish that dries by solvent evaporation and often a curing process as well that produces a hard, durable finish, in any sheen level from ultra matte to high gloss and that can be further polished as required...
: لكّ lakk, lacquer, or any resin used for varnishing. The Arabic is in turn from the Persian and Sanskrit for lac
Lac
Lac is the scarlet resinous secretion of a number of species of insects, namely some of the species of the genera Metatachardia, Laccifer, Tachordiella, Austrotacharidia, Afrotachardina, and Tachardina of the superfamily Coccoidea, of which the most commonly cultivated species is Kerria lacca.The...
, a particular kind of resin used to make a varnish. The Arabic entered late medieval Latin as lacca | laca. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lacquer Two lesser-seen varnishing resins with Arabic word-descent are sandarac
Sandarac
Sandarac is a resin obtained from the small cypress-like tree Tetraclinis articulata. The tree is native to the northwest of Africa with a notable presence in the Southern Morocco part of the Atlas mountains. The resin exudes naturally on the stems of the tree. It is also gotten by making cuts on...
and elemi
Elemi
Canarium luzonicum, commonly known as elemi, is a tree native to the Philippines, and an oleoresin harvested from it.-Uses:Elemi resin is a pale yellow substance, of honey-like consistency. Aromatic elemi oil is steam distilled from the resin. It is a fragrant resin with a sharp pine and lemon-like...
. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/elemi
lemon : ليمون līmūn, (1) lemon, (2) any citrus fruit. The cultivation of lemons, limes, and bitter oranges was introduced to the Mediterranean Basin by the Arabs in the Middle Ages. The ancient Greeks & Romans knew the citron
Citron
Not to be confused with Cintron.The citron is a fragrant citrus fruit, botanically classified as Citrus medica by both the Swingle and Tanaka systems...
, but not the lemon, lime, or orange. The lemon tree's native origin appears to be in India but the word "lemon" does not appear to be Indian. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lemon
lime (fruit)
Lime (fruit)
Lime is a term referring to a number of different citrus fruits, both species and hybrids, which are typically round, green to yellow in color, 3–6 cm in diameter, and containing sour and acidic pulp. Limes are a good source of vitamin C. Limes are often used to accent the flavors of foods and...
: ليم līm, any citrus fruit, a back-formation or a collective noun associated with ليمون līmūn; see lemon. Spanish, Portuguese & Italian lima = "lime (fruit)". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lime Today's English "lime" has become a color-name as well as a fruit. It can be noted in passing that all the following English color-names are descended from Arabic words (not necessarily Arabic color-words): amber (color)
Amber (color)
Amber is an orange-yellow color that got its name from the material known as amber. Due to this, amber can refer not to one but to a series of shades of orange, since the natural material varies from nearly yellow when newer to orange or reddish-orange when older.-Amber:Amber is a pure chroma color...
, apricot (color)
Apricot (color)
Apricot is a light yellowish-orangeish color that attempts to represent the color of apricots. Actually, it is somewhat paler than actual apricots....
, aubergine (color), azure (color)
Azure (color)
The color bleu de France is displayed at right.Bleu de France is a color that has been associated in heraldry with the Kings of France since the 12th century.-Brandeis blue:...
, coffee (color), crimson (color), carmine (color)
Carmine (color)
Carmine is the general term for a particularly deep red color. Some Rubies are colored the color shown below as rich carmine. The deep red color shown below as carmine is the color of the raw unprocessed pigment, but lighter, richer, or brighter colors are produced when the raw pigment is...
, henna (color), lemon (color)
Lemon (color)
Lemon or lemon yellow is a color somewhat resembling yellow and named after the fruit. The color lemon is a representation of the color of the outer skin of a lemon.The first recorded use of lemon as a color name in English was in 1598....
, lime (color)
Lime (color)
Lime, also traditionally known as lime green or lime-green, is a color three-quarters of the way between yellow and green , so named because it is a representation of the color of the citrus fruit called limes...
, orange (color), saffron (color)
Saffron (color)
Saffron is a color that is a tone of golden yellow resembling the color of the tip of the saffron crocus thread, from which the spice saffron is derived.The first recorded use of saffron as a color name in English was in 1200...
, scarlet (color)
Scarlet (color)
Scarlet is a bright red color with a hue that is somewhat toward the orange. It is redder than vermilion. It is a pure chroma on the color wheel one-fourth of the way between red and orange. Scarlet is sometimes used as the color of flame...
, tangerine (color)
Tangerine (color)
Tangerine is an orange color hue used to give the impression of the tangerine fruit. Just like there are a variety of shades of tangerine fruit, there are a variety of color mixes employed to give the impression...
.
luffa
Luffa
The luffa, loofah, or lufah are tropical and subtropical vines comprising the genus Luffa, the only genus of the subtribe Luffinae of the plant family Cucurbitaceae...
: لوف lūf, luffa. Also spelled loofah in English. 19th century English. May be directly from Arabic, or indirectly by way of Latin botany nomenclature, or both. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/loofah
lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
: العود al-ʿaūd, the oud
Oud
The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
. "The Portuguese form :pt:alaúde clearly shows the Arabic origin." Also Spanish alod in 1254, alaut in about 1330, laud in 1343. The earliest unambiguous record in English is in the 2nd half of the 14th century (Middle English Dictionary
Middle English Dictionary
The Middle English Dictionary is a dictionary of Middle English published by the University of Michigan. "Its 15,000 pages offer a comprehensive analysis of lexicon and usage for the period 1100-1500, based on the analysis of a collection of over three million citation slips, the largest collection...
). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lute
M
macraméMacramé
Macramé or macrame is a form of textile-making using knotting rather than weaving or knitting. Its primary knots are the square knot and forms of "hitching": full hitch and double half hitches...
: مقرامة miqrāma, embroidered veil. The path to English was: Arabic -> Turkish -> Italian -> French -> English. 19th century English. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/macrame
magazine
Magazine (disambiguation)
A magazine is a kind of periodical publication.Magazine may also refer to:-Storage:*Magazine , a place to store ammunition in warships and fortifications*Magazine , a device that holds ammunition for firearms...
: مخازن makhāzin (from khazan, to store), storehouses. Used in Latin with that meaning in 1228, the earliest record in a Western language. Still used that way in French, Italian and Russian. Sometimes used that way in English in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, but more commonly in English a magazine was an arsenal, a gunpower store, and later a receptacle for storing bullets. A magazine in the publishing sense of the word started out in English in the 17th century meaning a store of information about military or navigation subjects. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/magazine
marcasite
Marcasite
The mineral marcasite, sometimes called white iron pyrite, is iron sulfide with orthorhombic crystal structure. It is physically and crystallographically distinct from pyrite, which is iron sulfide with cubic crystal structure. Both structures do have in common that they contain the disulfide...
: مرقشيثا marqashīthā, iron sulfide, pyrite. An alchemy word. Used by Al-Razi in early 10th century and by Ibn Sina in early 11th century. The earliest record in a Western language seems to be in an Arabic-to-Latin translation by Gerard of Cremona
Gerard of Cremona
Gerard of Cremona was an Italian translator of Arabic scientific works found in the abandoned Arab libraries of Toledo, Spain....
in the late 12th century. In modern English marcasite is defined as orthorhombic
Orthorhombic crystal system
In crystallography, the orthorhombic crystal system is one of the seven lattice point groups. Orthorhombic lattices result from stretching a cubic lattice along two of its orthogonal pairs by two different factors, resulting in a rectangular prism with a rectangular base and height , such that a,...
iron sulfide. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/marcasite
massicot
Massicot
Massicot is one of the natural mineral forms of lead oxide, PbO. Massicot is the orthorhombic dimorph of the tetragonal form of lead oxide, litharge. It forms soft yellow to reddish-yellow, earthy, scaley masses which are very dense, with a specific gravity of 9.64.It was first described in 1841...
: مسحقونيا mas[-]ḥaqūniyā, a lead-containing glaze applied in the manufacture of vases. In modern English massicot is defined as orthorhombic lead oxide
PBO
PBO may refer to:* Paperback original, a book originally published as paperback* Parliamentary Budget Officer* PbO, the chemical formula for lead oxide...
. The word's history goes back to medieval Latin massacuma, which had the meaning of a lead-based ceramics glazing material in Italy in the early 14th century, and which came from Arabic masḥaqūniyā meaning the same. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/massicot
mattress
Mattress
A mattress is a manufactured product to sleep or lie on, consisting of resilient materials and covered with an outer fabric or ticking. In the developed world it is typically part of a bed set and is placed upon a foundation....
, matelasse
Matelasse
A French word, matelassé means “quilted,” “padded,” or “cushioned,” and in regards to fabric, refers to hand-quilted textiles. It is meant to mimic the style of hand-stitched Marseilles type quilts made in Provence, France. Matelassé fabric can be either hand-stitched to create the decorative...
: مطرح maṭrah, rug, large cushion. In Arabic the sense evolved out of the sense "something thrown down" from root tarah = "to throw". Classical Latin matta = "mat" is no relation. In 13th century Latin and Italian, followed by 14th century French and English, the mattress word usually meant a padded under-blanket, "a quilt to lie upon". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mattress, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/matelasse
mohair
Mohair
Mohair usually refers to a silk-like fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat. The word "mohair" was adopted into English before 1570 from the Arabic: mukhayyar, a type of haircloth, literally 'choice', from khayyara, 'he chose'. Mohair fiber is approximately 25-45 microns in...
, moiré : المخيّر al-mokhayyar, good-quality cloth made of goat hair. Earliest record in the West is 1542 Italian. Early English was spelled "mocayare", starting 1570. The mutation in English to "mohaire" is first seen in 1619. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mohair Moiré means a shimmering visual effect from an interweaved or grating
Diffraction grating
In optics, a diffraction grating is an optical component with a periodic structure, which splits and diffracts light into several beams travelling in different directions. The directions of these beams depend on the spacing of the grating and the wavelength of the light so that the grating acts as...
structure. It started out in French as a corruption of mohair. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/moire
monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
, typhoon : These words referred to wind and rain events off the coasts of India and China in their earliest use in Western languages and are seen first in Portuguese in early 16th century. Arabic sea-merchants were active in the East Indies long before the Portuguese arrived – see e.g. Islam in the Philippines
Islam in the Philippines
Islam is the oldest recorded monotheistic religion in the Philippines. Islam reached the Philippines between the 12th and 14th century with the arrival of Muslim traders from Persian Gulf and the Malabar Coast in Southern India, and their followers from several sultanate governments in the Malay...
and camphor and benzoin in this list. موسم mawsim, season, used in Arabic for anything that comes round once a year (such as festive season, silking season, sailing season). طوفان tūfān, a big rainstorm, a deluge, and used in the Koran for Noah's Flood. For etymologies of how the two words were adopted by European sailors in the Far East see A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive, by Yule and Burnell (year 1903). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/monsoon http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/typhoon
mummy
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
: موميا mūmiyā, embalmed corpse; earlier, a bituminous embalming substance. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mummy
muslin
Muslin
Muslin |sewing patterns]], such as for clothing, curtains, or upholstery. Because air moves easily through muslin, muslin clothing is suitable for hot, dry climates.- Etymology and history :...
: موصلي mūṣilī, fine cotton fabric made in Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
in Mesopotamia. The word entered the West with that meaning in the 16th century. The fabric was imported from Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
by Venetians, who called it mussolina. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/muslin
N-Q
nadirNadir
The nadir is the direction pointing directly below a particular location; that is, it is one of two vertical directions at a specified location, orthogonal to a horizontal flat surface there. Since the concept of being below is itself somewhat vague, scientists define the nadir in more rigorous...
: نظير naẓīr, the point of the sky opposite the zenith. Crossref zenith in this list. Naẓīr literally means the complement or counterpart. "The Arabic 'z' here used is the 17th letter of the Arabic alphabet, an unusual letter with a difficult sound, which came to be rendered by 'd' in Low Latin." 13th century Latin. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nadir
natron
Natron
Natron is a naturally occurring mixture of sodium carbonate decahydrate and about 17% sodium bicarbonate along with small quantities of household salt and sodium sulfate. Natron is white to colourless when pure, varying to gray or yellow with impurities...
, natrium, kalium : The ancient Greeks had the word nitron with the meaning of naturally-occurring sodium carbonate and similar salts. The medieval Arabs adopted this word, spelled نطرون natrūn, and used it with that meaning. The modern word natron, meaning hydrated sodium carbonate, is descended from the Arabic. In Europe shortly after sodium was isolated as an element for the first time, in the early 19th century, sodium was given the scientific abbreviation Na from a created Latin name, initially natronium then natrium, which goes back etymologically to the Arabic natrūn (and then to the Greek nitron). Also in the early 19th century, elemental potassium was isolated for the first time and was soon afterwards given the scientific abbreviation K representing a created Latin name Kalium, which was derived from new Latin
New Latin
The term New Latin, or Neo-Latin, is used to describe the Latin language used in original works created between c. 1500 and c. 1900. Among other uses, Latin during this period was employed in scholarly and scientific publications...
Kali meaning potassium carbonate, which goes back etymologically to medieval Arabic al-qali, which for the Arabs could mean both potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate. Crossref alkali on this page. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/natron
orange
Orange (word)
The word orange is both a noun and an adjective in the English language. In both cases, it refers primarily to the orange fruit and the colour orange, but has many other derivative meanings....
: نارنج nāranj, orange. Arabic descends from Sanskritic nāraṅga = "orange". The orange tree came from India. The Arabs introduced it to the Mediterranean region in the 10th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/orange
popinjay (parrot) : ببغاء babaghā', parrot. The change of Arabic 'b' to English 'p' also occurs in the loanwords Apricot, Calipers, Julep, Jumper, Serendipity, Spinach, and Syrup. French gai = "jay (bird)". The French papegai = "parrot" has a late 12th century start date. The English dates from one century later. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/popinjay
R
racquetRacquet
A racquet or racket is a sports implement consisting of a handled frame with an open hoop across which a network of cord is stretched tightly. It is used for striking a ball in such games as squash, tennis, racquetball, and badminton...
or racket (tennis) : The French :fr:raquette, Italian :it:racchetta, and the synonymous English racquet are usually accepted as derived from medieval Latin rascete which meant the bones of the wrist (carpus
Carpus
In tetrapods, the carpus is the sole cluster of bones in the wrist between the radius and ulna and the metacarpus. The bones of the carpus do not belong to individual fingers , whereas those of the metacarpus do. The corresponding part of the foot is the tarsus...
). The earliest records of the Latin are in two 11th century Latin medical texts, one of which was by the Arabic-speaking Constantinus Africanus, whose work drew from Arabic medical sources. (Crossref borage). Today's etymology dictionaries all suppose the Latin to be from Arabic and the most popular theory derives it from راحة rāha(t) = "palm of the hand". A less popular theory derives it from رسغ rusgh = "bones of the wrist". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/racquet
realgar
Realgar
Realgar, α-As4S4, is an arsenic sulfide mineral, also known as "ruby sulphur" or "ruby of arsenic". It is a soft, sectile mineral occurring in monoclinic crystals, or in granular, compact, or powdery form, often in association with the related mineral, orpiment . It is orange-red in colour, melts...
: رهج الغار rahj al-ghār, arsenic sulfide. In medieval times, realgar was used as a rodent poison, as a corrosive, and as a red paint pigment. The ancient Greeks & Romans knew the substance. Other names for it in medieval Arabic writings include "red arsenic" and "rodent poison". Ibn al-Baitar in the early 13th century wrote: "Among the people of the Maghreb
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
it is called rahj al-ghār" (literally: "cavern powder"). The earliest records in the West are in 13th century Spanish spelled rejalgar, and 13th century Latin and Venetian spelled realgar. In English, Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
spelled it resalgar in the 1390s. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/realgar
ream (quantity of sheets of paper) : رزمة rizma, bale, bundle. "All agree that this etymology has been completely established by Reinhart Dozy
Reinhart Dozy
Reinhart Pieter Anne Dozy was a Dutch scholar of French origin, who was born in Leiden...
." Late medieval Spain. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ream
roc (mythology): رخّ rukhkh, mythological bird in the Arabian Nights tales. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/roc
S
safariSafari
A safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...
: Entered English in late 19th century from Swahili language
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
safari = "journey" which is from Arabic سفر safar = "journey". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/safari
safflower
Safflower
Safflower is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual. It is commercially cultivated for vegetable oil extracted from the seeds. Plants are 30 to 150 cm tall with globular flower heads having yellow, orange or red flowers. Each branch will usually have from one to five flower heads...
: عصفر ''ʿusfur, safflower; or أصفر ''ʿasfar, (1) yellow, (2) safflower. The Arabic "fur" or "far" part mutated in Italian to "fiore" which is Italian for flower. The flower was commercially cultivated for use as a dye in the Mediterranean region in medieval times. In medieval Italian the spellings included asfiore, asfrole, astifore, affiore, and saffiore. In medieval Arabic the usual was ''ʿusfur, a word formally related to ''ʿasfar = "yellow". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/safflower
saffron
Saffron
Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the saffron crocus. Crocus is a genus in the family Iridaceae. Each saffron crocus grows to and bears up to four flowers, each with three vivid crimson stigmas, which are each the distal end of a carpel...
:زعفران zaʿfarān, saffron. The ancient Romans used saffron but called it "crocus". The word saffron is first seen in Latin in 1156. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/saffron
saphena (saphenous vein) : سافين sāfīn or صافن ṣāfin, saphenous vein. The word is first seen in Ibn Sina's The Canon of Medicine
The Canon of Medicine
The Canon of Medicine is an encyclopedia of Galenic medicine in five books compiled by Ibn Sīnā and completed in 1025. It presents a clear and organized summary of all the medical knowledge of the time...
, 11th century. The saphenous veins were among the more commonly used veins in medieval bloodletting
Bloodletting
Bloodletting is the withdrawal of often little quantities of blood from a patient to cure or prevent illness and disease. Bloodletting was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluid were considered to be "humors" the proper balance of which maintained health...
. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/saphena
sash (ribbon)
Sash
A sash is a cloth belt used to hold a robe together, and is usually tied about the waist. The Japanese equivalent of a sash, obi, serves to hold a kimono or yukata together. Decorative sashes may pass from the shoulder to the hip rather than around the waist...
: شاش shāsh, wrap of muslin. (Crossref muslin which entered English near the same time). The early records in English include this comment from an English traveller in the Middle East in year 1615: "All of them wear on their heads white shashes.... Shashes are long towels of Calico wound about their heads." In Arabic today shāsh means gauze. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sash
scarlet (color)
Scarlet (color)
Scarlet is a bright red color with a hue that is somewhat toward the orange. It is redder than vermilion. It is a pure chroma on the color wheel one-fourth of the way between red and orange. Scarlet is sometimes used as the color of flame...
: * سقيرلاط * saqirlāṭ, "fine cloth" (fine cloth of various colors but red most common). The wordform siqillāṭ also sijillāṭ is well attested in Arabic from the early 9th century onward and it came from a Late Classical Latin and early medieval Greek word sigillatus meaning cloth decorated with seals (from Latin sig-, sign). The mutated form saqirlāṭ is actually unattested in Arabic and it has been theoretically reconstructed from an attestation in Mozarabic about year 1000. The latter form is believed to be the source of the Latin scarlata, first seen about 1100, meaning fine cloth, expensively dyed bright cloth. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/scarlet The red dye was usually kermes a.k.a. crimson.
sequin
Sequin
Sequins are disk-shaped beads used for decorative purposes. They are available in a wide variety of colors and geometrical shapes. Sequins are commonly used on clothing, jewelry, bags, shoes and lots of other accessories. Large sequins, fastened only at the top, have been used on billboards and...
: صكّة | سكّة sikka, a minting die for coins, and also meaning coinage in general. In its early use in English, sequin was the name of Venetian and Turkish gold coins. "The word might well have followed the coin into oblivion, but in the 19th century it managed to get itself applied to the small round shiny pieces of metal applied to clothing." http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sequin
serendipity
Serendipity
Serendipity means a "happy accident" or "pleasant surprise"; specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful without looking for it. The word has been voted as one of the ten English words hardest to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company. However, due to its...
: A word created in English in 1754 from Serendip, an old fairy tale place, from سرنديب Serendīb, an old Arab word for Sri Lanka. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/serendipity Fortified by its resemblance to the etymologically unrelated Latin word "serenity".
sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
: شيخ shaīkh, sheikh. It has been in English since the 17th century meaning an Arab sheikh. In the 20th century it took on a slangy additional meaning of "strong, romantic man". This is attributed to a hit movie, "The Sheik (film)
The Sheik (film)
The Sheik is a 1921 silent film produced by Famous Players-Lasky, directed by George Melford and starring Rudolph Valentino, Agnes Ayres, and Adolphe Menjou...
", 1921, starring Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
, and after the movie was a hit the book it was based on became a hit, and spawned imitators. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sheikh
soda, sodium
Sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...
: Soda first appears in the Western languages in late medieval Latin and Italian. It is most often said to be from سوادة suwwāda, سويد suwayd, or سويدة suwayda, one or more species of plant growing in salty environments (saltwort
Saltwort
Saltwort is a common name for several genera of flowering plants, including:*Batis, family Bataceae*Salicornia and Salsola, family Amaranthaceae*Salsola kali, prickly saltwort...
s) whose ashes yielded sodium carbonate to be used as an ingredient in glass-making. (See the saltwort Suaeda
Suaeda
Suaeda is a genus of plants also known as seepweeds and seablites. Most species are confined to saline or alkaline soil habitats, such as coastal salt-flats and tidal wetlands. Many species have thick, succulent leaves, a characteristic seen in various plant genera that thrive in salty habitats...
). That etymon suffers from poor documentary evidence but still an Arabic origin looks most likely. The name "sodium" was derived from soda in early 19th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/soda
sofa
Couch
A couch, also called a sofa, is an item of furniture designed to seat more than one person, and providing support for the back and arms. Typically, it will have an armrest on either side. In homes couches are normally found in the family room, living room, den or the lounge...
: صفّة soffa, a bench or dais
Dais
Dais is any raised platform located either in or outside of a room or enclosure, often for dignified occupancy, as at the front of a lecture hall or sanctuary....
. The Arabic was adopted into Turkish, and from Turkish it entered Western Europe in the 16th century meaning an oriental-style dais with rugs and cushions. Today's meaning of sofa is dated to late 17th century French and early 18th century English. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sofa
spinach
Spinach
Spinach is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions...
: إِسبناخ isbinākh in Andalusian Arabic, and إِسفاناخ isfānākh in eastern classical Arabic, from Persian aspanākh, spinach. "It was the Arabs who introduced the spinach into Spain, whence it spread to the rest of Europe." The first records in English are around year 1400 (as documented in the Middle English Dictionary
Middle English Dictionary
The Middle English Dictionary is a dictionary of Middle English published by the University of Michigan. "Its 15,000 pages offer a comprehensive analysis of lexicon and usage for the period 1100-1500, based on the analysis of a collection of over three million citation slips, the largest collection...
). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/spinach
sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
: سكّر sukkar, sugar. The word is ultimately from Sanskritic sharkara = "sugar". Cane sugar developed in ancient India originally. It was produced by the medieval Arabs on a pretty large scale. History of sugar
History of sugar
The long history of sugar is interwoven with that of trade, religion, colonialism, capitalism, industry and technology. The labor-intensive nature of sugar cultivation and processing has meant that much of the history of the sugar industry has had associations with large-scale slavery...
. Among the earliest records in English are these entries in the account books of an abbey in Durham: year 1302 "Zuker Marok", 1309 "succre marrokes", 1310 "Couker de Marrok", 1316 "Zucar de Cypr[us]". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sugar
sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
, sultana : سلطان soltān, authority, ruler. The first ruler to use Sultan as a formal title was an Islamic Turkic-speaking ruler in Central Asia around the year 1000. He borrowed the word from Arabic. Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
, emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
, qadi
Qadi
Qadi is a judge ruling in accordance with Islamic religious law appointed by the ruler of a Muslim country. Because Islam makes no distinction between religious and secular domains, qadis traditionally have jurisdiction over all legal matters involving Muslims...
, and vizier
Vizier
A vizier or in Arabic script ; ; sometimes spelled vazir, vizir, vasir, wazir, vesir, or vezir) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in a Muslim government....
are other Arabic-origin words connected with rulers. Their use in English is mostly confined to discussions of Middle Eastern history. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sultan
sumac
Sumac
Sumac is any one of approximately 250 species of flowering plants in the genus Rhus and related genera, in the family Anacardiaceae. Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, especially in Africa and North America....
: سمّاق summāq, sumac, species of shrub or its fruit (Rhus coriaria
Rhus coriaria
Rhus coriaria, commonly called Elm-Leaved Sumach or Tanner's Sumach is a deciduous shrub to small tree in the Anacardiaceae or Cashew family, native to southern Europe. The dried fruit are used as a spice, particularly in combination with other spices in the mixture called Za'atar.- Uses :Caution...
). In the medieval era sumac was used in herbal medicine and in leather making and as a dye. Al-Muqaddasi
Al-Muqaddasi
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din Al-Muqaddasi , also transliterated as Al-Maqdisi and el-Mukaddasi, was a medieval Arab geographer, author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim .-Biography:Al-Muqaddasi, "the Hierosolomite" was born in Jerusalem in 946 AD...
(died 1000) mentions it as one of the commercial crops of Syria. The word is on record in 10th century Latin and as such it is one of the earliest loanwords on this list. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sumac
Swahili : سواحل sawāhil, coasts (plural of sāhil, coast). The Swahili language
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
is grammatically a Bantu language, with about one-third of its vocabulary taken from Arabic. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/swahili Another non-Arabic language with a lot of Arabic vocabulary that draws the name of the language from an Arabic word is Mahl, the language of the Maldives Islands.
syrup
Syrup
In cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but showing little tendency to deposit crystals...
, sherbet, sorbet : شراب sharāb, a word with two senses in Arabic, "a drink" and "syrup", and medieval Arabic medical writers used it to mean a syrupy medicinal potion. It was passed into medieval Latin in the 12th century as siroppus, a thickly sweetened drink, a syrupy medicinal potion. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/syrup The change from
Latin spelling and pronunciation
Latin spelling or orthography refers to the spelling of Latin words written in the scripts of all historical phases of Latin from Old Latin to the present. They all use some phase of the same alphabet even though conventional spellings may vary from phase to phase...
did not use an
T
tabla (percussion instrument in music of India)Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
: طبل tabl, drum. English tabla is from Hindi tabla which is from Arabic tabl, which in Arabic has been the usual word for drum (noun and verb) since the beginning of written records. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tabla
tahini
Tahini
Tahini or sesame paste , is a paste of ground sesame seeds used in cooking. North African, Greek and West Asian tahini is made of hulled, lightly roasted seeds. East Asian sesame paste is made of unhulled seeds. The Arabic word tahin simply means flour.Tahini is a major component of hummus and...
: طحينة tahīna, tahini. Derives from the Arabic verb for "grind" and is related to tahīn = "flour". Entered English directly from Arabic around year 1900. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tahini
talc
Talc
Talc is a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula H2Mg34 or Mg3Si4O102. In loose form, it is the widely-used substance known as talcum powder. It occurs as foliated to fibrous masses, its crystals being so rare as to be almost unknown...
: طلق ṭalq, mica
Mica
The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...
or talc. An alchemy word. Common in medieval Arabic. Documented in Latin from around 1300 onward, but not common in the West until the later 16th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/talc
talisman
Talisman
Talisman have several meanings:*TalismanBooks and novels* The Talisman , a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott* The Talisman , a novel by Stephen King and Peter Straub...
: طلسم ṭilsam | ṭilasm, meaning an incantation
Incantation
An incantation or enchantment is a charm or spell created using words. An incantation may take place during a ritual, either a hymn or prayer, and may invoke or praise a deity. In magic, occultism, witchcraft it may be used with the intention of casting a spell on an object or a person...
and later on meaning a talisman. The Arabic was from Greek telesma = "consecration ceremony". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/talisman
tamarind
Tamarind
Tamarind is a tree in the family Fabaceae. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic .-Origin:...
: تمر هندي tamr hindī, "date of India". Entered medieval Latin medical texts from Arabic medical texts. In English the early records are 15th century translations of Latin medical texts. Tamarind's medical uses were various. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tamarind
tanbur
Tanbur
The term tanbūr can refer to various long-necked, fretted lutes originating in the Middle East or Central Asia. According to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "terminology presents a complicated situation. Nowadays the term tanbur is applied to a variety of distinct and related...
, tanbura
Tanbura
For other uses, see Tanbur .The tanbūra is a bowl lyre of the Middle East and East Africa. It takes its name from the Persian Tanbur via the Arabic tunbur , though this term refers to long-necked lutes. The instrument plays an important role in Zār rituals...
, tambur, tambura
Tambura
The tambura, tanpura, or tambora is a long-necked plucked lute . The body shape of the tambura somewhat resembles that of the sitar, but it has no frets – only the open strings are played to accompany other musicians...
, tambouras
Tambouras
The tambouras , is a traditional Greek string instrument. It has existed since at least the 10th century, when it was known in Assyria and Egypt. At that time, it might have between two and six strings, but Arabs adopted it, and called it a toubour...
, tamburica, tembûr
Tembûr
The tembûr, a fretted string instrument, is a form of tanbūr. It is associated with the Ahl-e Haqq religion in Kurdish areas and in the Lorestān and Sistan va Baluchestan provinces of Iran. It is currently the only musical instrument used in Ahl-e Haqq rituals, and practitioners venerate the...
: These are plucked string musical instruments, each defined a little distinctively. From Arabic طنبور ṭunbūr (also ṭanbūr), string instrument. The tambourine, a percussive instrument, is not likely to be etymologically related. Likewise tambour = "drum" is either unrelated to tambur = "string instrument" or else the relation is poorly understood. With regard to the string instrument, the same word is in Persian and Arabic, and the dictionaries generally report the Persian to be from the Arabic. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tamboura
tangerine
Tangerine
__notoc__The tangerine is an orange-colored citrus fruit which is closely related to the Mandarin orange . Taxonomically, it should probably be formally named as a subspecies or variety of Citrus reticulata; further work seems to be required to ascertain its correct scientific name...
: طنجة Tanja, port city in Morocco: Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
("Tanger" in most European languages). Tangerine oranges or mandarin oranges were not introduced to the Mediterranean region until the early 19th century. The English word "tangerine" arose in the UK in the early 1840s from shipments of tangerine oranges from Tangier and the word origin was in the UK. The Arabic name for a tangerine is unrelated. The city existed in pre-Arabic times named "Tingi". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tangerine
tare (weight)
Tare weight
Tare , from the Middle French word tare "wastage in goods, deficiency, imperfection" , from Italian tara, from Arabic tarah, lit. "thing deducted or rejected," from taraha "to reject" weight, sometimes called unladen weight, is the weight of an empty vehicle or container...
: طرحة ṭarha, a discard (something discarded; from root tarah, to throw). Seen used in government regulations of the grocery trade in Paris in 1311. The tare weight is defined as the weight of a package that's empty. To get the net weight of goods in a package, you weigh the goods in their package, which is the gross weight, and then discard the tare weight. The word is seen in Spanish around 1400 in the form atara, which helps affirm Arabic ancestry. It is spelled tara in today's Spanish, Italian, German, and Russian. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tare
tariff
Tariff
A tariff may be either tax on imports or exports , or a list or schedule of prices for such things as rail service, bus routes, and electrical usage ....
: تعريف taʿrīf, notification, specification (from ''ʿarraf, to notify). In late medieval Mediterranean commerce it meant a statement of inventory on a merchant ship (bill of lading
Bill of lading
A bill of lading is a document issued by a carrier to a shipper, acknowledging that specified goods have been received on board as cargo for conveyance to a named place for delivery to the consignee who is usually identified...
), or any tabular statement of prices and products (or services) offered for sale. In use by Italian-speaking merchants in the 14th century. Entered French and English in the 16th. (Spanish tarifa is not on record before the late 17th). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tariff
tarragon (herb)
Tarragon
Tarragon or dragon's-wort is a perennial herb in the family Asteraceae related to wormwood. Corresponding to its species name, a common term for the plant is "dragon herb". It is native to a wide area of the Northern Hemisphere from easternmost Europe across central and eastern Asia to India,...
: طرخون ṭarkhūn, tarragon. The word with that sense was used by Al-Razi (died 930) and Ibn Sina (died 1037). It was used later in medieval Latin in a herbal medicine context spelled altarcon, tarchon and tragonia. Records for French targon, Italian tarcone, Spanish tarragoncia, English tarragon and German Tragon all start in the 16th century and in a culinary context. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tarragon
tazza
Tazza
A tazza is a shallow saucer-like dish either mounted on a stem and foot or on a foot alone. The word has been generally adopted by archaeologists and connoisseurs for this type of vessel, used either for drinking, serving small items of food, or just for display.The Farnese Tazza is a 2nd century...
, demitasse
Demitasse
A demitasse is a small cup used to serve Arabic coffee or espresso. In some languages it is called fincan, fildžan, filxhan or φλιτζάνι . In Spanish, it is called a pocillo....
: طاسة ṭāsa | طسّة tassa, round, shallow, drinking cup or bowl. The word has been in all the western Romance languages since the 13th and 14th centuries. It was common in Arabic for many centuries before that. English had it as tass in the 16th century, which continued much later in colloquial use in Scotland, but today's tazza and demitasse came from Italian and French in the 19th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tazza
tuna
Tuna
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...
: التون al-tūn, tunafish. Ancient Greek and classical Latin thunnus [= tunafish] -> medieval Arabic al-tūn -> medieval Spanish atún -> American Spanish tuna -> American English tuna. Note: Modern Italian tonno, French thon, and English tunny, each meaning tuna, are descended from the classical Latin without an Arabic intermediary. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tuna The Albacore
Albacore
The albacore, Thunnus alalunga, is a type of tuna in the family Scombridae. This species is also called albacore fish, albacore tuna, albicore, longfin, albies, pigfish, tombo ahi, binnaga, Pacific albacore, German bonito , longfin tuna, longfin tunny, or even just tuna...
species of tunafish got its name from Spanish & Portuguese albacora, which might be from Arabic, which in Arabic might have designated tuna species but probably not albacore. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/albacore Bonito
Bonito
Bonito is a name given to various species of medium-sized, predatory fish in the Scombridae family. First, bonito most commonly refers to species in the genus Sarda, including the Atlantic bonito and the Pacific bonito ; second, in Japanese cuisine, bonito refers to the skipjack tuna , which, in...
is another tuna species. Some say this name may be a Spanish-ization of Arabic بينيث bainīth; others say it may be simply from Spanish bonito = "pretty good". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bonito
U-Z
varanoid (in lizard taxonomy)Varanoidea
Varanoidea is a superfamily of lizards, including the well-known family Varanidae . Also included in the Varanoidea are such extinct marine and semi-aquatic forms as mosasaurs and dolichosaurs, the venomous helodermatids , the Lanthanotidae , and the extinct Necrosauridae.Throughout their long...
, Varanus (lizard genus) : ورل waral and locally (particularly in Algeria) ورن waran, varanoid lizard especially Varanus griseus
Varanus griseus
The Desert Monitor, Varanus griseus, is a species of monitor lizard of the order Squamata found living throughout North Africa and western Asia. Varanus griseus is divided into three distinct subspecies: Varanus griseus griseus , Varanus griseus caspius , and Varanus griseus koniecznyi...
. In Europe in the 16th to 18th centuries it was usually spelled with an L, e.g. "varal" (1677, French), "oûaral" (1725, French), "worral" (1828 English dictionary), but certain influential writers in the early 19th century adopted the N spelling. The V in place of W reflects Latinization. Historically in Latin and Romance languages there was no letter W. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/varanus
zenith
Zenith
The zenith is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the imaginary celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction opposite to the apparent gravitational force at that location. The opposite direction, i.e...
: سمت الرأس samt al-rā's, meaning zenith, also vertex, and literally "top of the path". Origin in texts of astronomy in medieval Islam. Borrowed into Latin in the 12th century. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/zenith
zero : صفر sifr, zero. Medieval Arabic ṣifr -> Latin zephirum (used by Fibonacci
Fibonacci
Leonardo Pisano Bigollo also known as Leonardo of Pisa, Leonardo Pisano, Leonardo Bonacci, Leonardo Fibonacci, or, most commonly, simply Fibonacci, was an Italian mathematician, considered by some "the most talented western mathematician of the Middle Ages."Fibonacci is best known to the modern...
in 1202) -> Old Italian zefiro -> contracted to zero in Old Italian before 1485 (though the first record in Italian is 1491) -> French zéro 1485 -> English zero 1604; rare in English before 1800. Crossref cipher. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/zero
Addendum for botanical names
The following plant names entered medieval Latin texts from Arabic. Today they are international systematic nameSystematic name
A systematic name is a name given in a systematic way to one unique group, organism, object or chemical substance, out of a specific population or collection...
s ("Latin" names): Berberis
Berberis
Berberis , the barberries or pepperidge bushes, is a genus of about 450-500 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from 1-5 m tall with thorny shoots, native to the temperate and subtropical regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and South America. They are closely related to the genus...
, Cakile
Cakile
Cakile is a genus within the flowering plant family Brassicaceae. Species in this genus are commonly known as searockets, though this name on its own is applied particularly to whatever member of the species is native or most common in the region concerned, the European searocket Cakile maritima...
, Carthamus
Carthamus
The genus Carthamus , the distaff thistles, includes about 14 species of Mediterranean plants in the daisy family. The best known species is the safflower.-Species:*Carthamus arborescens L...
, Ceterach
Ceterach officinarum
Asplenium ceterach is a fern species commonly known as Rustyback. It is characterised by a short rhizome which gives rise to several green fronds that have a pinnated lamina with trichomes on the abaxial surface, but not the adaxial one. These trichomes are orange-brown in colour, hence the...
, Cuscuta
Cuscuta
Cuscuta is a genus of about 100-170 species of yellow, orange or red parasitic plants. Formerly treated as the only genus in the family Cuscutaceae, recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has shown that it is correctly placed in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae...
, Doronicum
Doronicum
Doronicum is a genus of the botanical family Asteraceae.-Selected species:*Doronicum altaicum*Doronicum atlanticum* Doronicum austriacum Jacq.*Doronicum briquetii* Doronicum cacaliifolium Boiss. & Heldr....
, Galanga, Musa
Musa (genus)
Musa is one of three genera in the family Musaceae; it includes bananas and plantains. There are over 50 species of Musa with a broad variety of uses....
, Nuphar
Nuphar
Nuphar is genus of aquatic plants in the family Nymphaeaceae, with a temperate to subarctic Northern Hemisphere distribution. Common names include water-lily , pond-lily, and spatterdock .A total of eight species and three hybrids are currently accepted in the genus...
, Ribes
Ribes
Ribes is a genus of about 150 species of flowering plants native throughout the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually treated as the only genus in the family Grossulariaceae. Seven subgenera are recognized....
, Senna
Senna (genus)
Senna , the sennas, is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae. This diverse genus is native throughout the tropics, with a small number of species reaching into temperate regions. The number of species is usually estimated to be about 260, but some...
, Sophora
Sophora
Sophora is a genus of about 45 species of small trees and shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family, Fabaceae. The species are native to southeast Europe, southern Asia, Australasia, various islands in the Pacific Ocean, western South America, the western United States, the Southern US...
, Taraxacum
Taraxacum
Taraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. They are native to Eurasia and North America, and two species, T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, are found as weeds worldwide. Both species are edible in their entirety...
, Usnea
Usnea
Usnea is the generic and scientific name for several species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae, that generally grow hanging from tree branches, resembling grey or greenish hair. It is sometimes referred to commonly as Old Man's Beard, Beard Lichen, or Treemoss...
, Physalis alkekengi
Physalis alkekengi
Physalis alkekengi , is a relative of P. peruviana , easily identifiable by the larger, bright orange to red papery covering over its fruit, which resemble Chinese lanterns. It is native from southern Europe east across southern Asia to Japan...
, Crataegus azarolus
Crataegus azarolus
Crataegus azarolus is a species of hawthorn known by the common names azarole, mosphilla, and Mediterranean medlar. It is native to the Mediterranean Basin and it is grown there and elsewhere as an ornamental tree and for its fruit. It has been used historically for a number of medicinal purposes.C...
, Melia azedarach
Melia azedarach
Melia azedarach is a species of deciduous tree in the mahogany family, Meliaceae, that is native to Pakistan, India, Indochina Southeast Asia and Australia...
, Terminalia bellerica, Terminalia chebula
Terminalia chebula
Terminalia chebula is a species of Terminalia, native to southern Asia from India and Nepal east to southwestern China , and south to Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Vietnam.It is a deciduous tree growing to tall, with a trunk up to in diameter...
, Cheiranthus cheiri, Piper cubeba, Phyllanthus emblica, Peganum harmala, Salsola kali
Salsola kali
Kali soda is an annual plant that grows in arid soils and in sandy coastal soils. Its original range is Eurasian, but it has become naturalized, and even invasive, in North America, Australia, and elsewhere...
, Prunus mahaleb
Prunus mahaleb
Prunus mahaleb is a species of cherry native to central and southern Europe, western and central Asia, and northwest Africa, from Morocco north to France, southern Belgium, and Germany, and east to northern Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan.It is a deciduous tree or large...
, Datura metel
Datura metel
Datura metel is a shrub-like perennial herb, commonly known as angel's trumpet, devil's trumpet, and metel.Datura metel grows in the wild in all the warmer parts of the world, and is cultivated worldwide for its chemical and ornamental properties...
, Daphne mezereum
Daphne mezereum
Daphne mezereum is a species of Daphne in the flowering plant family Thymelaeaceae, native to most of Europe and Western Asia, north to northern Scandinavia and Russia. In southern Europe it is confined to medium to higher elevations and in the subalpine vegetation zone, but descends to near sea...
, Cordia sebestena, Operculina turpethum
Operculina turpethum
A plant in the morning glory family, Operculina turpethum is known commonly as turpeth, fue vao, and St. Thomas lidpod....
, Curcuma zedoaria. (List incomplete.)
About three-quarters of those botanical names were introduced to medieval Latin in a herbal medicine context. For instance the Arabic-to-Latin translation of Ibn Sina's The Canon of Medicine helped establish many Arabic plant names in Latin, especially of medicinal plants of tropical Asian source for which there had been no Latin or Greek name, such as azedarach, bellerica, emblica, metel, turpethum, and zedoaria. The Arabic-to-Latin translation of a book about medicating agents by Serapion the Younger
Serapion the Younger
Serapion the Younger was an Arabic medical writer who wrote in the 12th century . He is called "the Younger" to distinguish him from Serapion the Elder, aka Yahya ibn Sarafyun, an earlier Arabic medical writer with whom he was often confused...
contained hundreds of Arabic loanwords, primarily botanicals. It circulated extensively in Latin among apothecaries in the 14th and 15th centuries. Medieval Arabic botany was primarily concerned with the use of plants for medicines. In a modern etymology analysis of one medieval Arabic medicinal formulary
Formulary (pharmacy)
At its most basic level, a formulary is a list of medicines. Traditionally, a formulary contained a collection of formulas for the compounding and testing of medication . The main function of formularies today is to specify which medicines are approved to be prescribed under a particular contract...
(authorship attributed to Al-Kindi
Al-Kindi
' , known as "the Philosopher of the Arabs", was a Muslim Arab philosopher, mathematician, physician, and musician. Al-Kindi was the first of the Muslim peripatetic philosophers, and is unanimously hailed as the "father of Islamic or Arabic philosophy" for his synthesis, adaptation and promotion...
, died 870, although perhaps partially or wholly of later date), the pharmacological names—primarily plant names—were assessed to be 31% ancient Mesopotamian names, 23% Greek names, 18% Persian, 13% Indian (often via Persian), 5% uniquely Arabic, and 3% Egyptian
Egyptian language
Egyptian is the oldest known indigenous language of Egypt and a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Written records of the Egyptian language have been dated from about 3400 BC, making it one of the oldest recorded languages known. Egyptian was spoken until the late 17th century AD in the...
, with the remaining 7% of unassessable origin.
18th century European taxonomists created a number of new Latin
New Latin
The term New Latin, or Neo-Latin, is used to describe the Latin language used in original works created between c. 1500 and c. 1900. Among other uses, Latin during this period was employed in scholarly and scientific publications...
plant names from Arabic names and these include Adenia
Adenia
Adenia is a genus in the passionflower family Passifloraceae. It is named after Aden, a city in Yemen.The genus includes a number of tropical and subtropical xerophytes; many of which form substantially thickened bases or lianas. It is also a Caudiciform. Many species are characterised by the...
, Aerva
Aerva
Aerva is a genus of plant in family Amaranthaceae.-Selected species:Compiled from several different lists:* Aerva artemisioides* Aerva congesta* Aerva coriacea Schinz* Aerva humbertii Cavaco...
, Arnebia
Arnebia
Arnebia is a genus of the family Boraginaceae.The Generic name Arnebia originates from the Arabic name sagaret el arneb. Author=Stearn, William T. Title=Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners. Year=2002 Publisher=Cassell....
, Ceruana
Ceruana
Ceruana is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae....
and many others by Forsskål; and Alchemilla
Alchemilla
Alchemilla is a genus of herbaceous perennial plants in the Rosaceae, and a popular garden herb with the common name Lady's mantle. There are about 300 species, the majority native to cool temperate and subarctic regions of Europe and Asia, with a few species native to the mountains of Africa,...
, Averrhoa
Averrhoa
Averrhoa is a genus of trees in the Oxalidaceae family, of the Oxalidales order, named after Averroes - a 12th century astronomer and philosopher from Al-Andalus.-Selected species:...
, Avicennia
Avicennia
Avicennia is a genus of flowering plants currently placed in the bear's breeches family, Acanthaceae. It contains mangrove trees, which occur in the intertidal zones of estuarine areas and are characterized by aerial roots. Species of Avicennia occur worldwide south of the Tropic of Cancer.The...
, Lablab, and others by Linnaeus. (List incomplete). Some additional miscellaneous botanical names with Arabic ancestry include Abutilon
Abutilon
Abutilon is a large genus of approximately 150 species of broadleaf evergreens in the mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus includes annuals, perennials, shrubs, and small trees from 1–10 m tall, and is found in the tropical and subtropical regions of all continents. The leaves are alternate,...
, Alhagi
Alhagi
Alhagi is a genus of Old World plants in the family Fabaceae. They are commonly called camelthorns or manna trees. There are three to five species....
, Argania, argel
Solenostemma argel
Solenostemma argel is a plant in the family Apocynaceae indigenous to Africa.The leaves are used in herbal medicine for the treatment of some diseases such as of liver and kidney and allergies. It is an effective remedy for bronchitis and is used to treat neuralgia and sciatica...
, bonduc
Caesalpinia bonduc
Caesalpinia bonduc, commonly known as Gray Nicker, is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, that has a pantropical distribution. It is a vine-like shrub that reaches a length of and scrambles over other vegetation. Stems are covered in curved spines...
, lebbeck
Albizia lebbeck
Albizia lebbeck is a species of Albizia, native to tropical southern Asia, and widely cultivated and naturalised in other tropical and subtropical regions. English names for it include Lebbeck, Lebbek Tree, Flea Tree, Frywood, Koko and Woman's tongues Tree...
, Maerua
Maerua
Maerua is a genus of plant in family Capparaceae. Among its species:* Maerua acuminata Oliver* Maerua andradae Wild* Maerua brunnescens Wild* Maerua crassifolia Forssk.* Maerua elegans R. Wilczek...
, Melochia
Melochia
Melochia is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. Some authorities place it in Sterculiaceae. It comprises 54 species from the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, ranging from India eastwards through Malesia and the Pacific Islands to the Americas and the Caribbean...
, Retama
Retama
Retama is a genus of flowering bushes in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the broom tribe, Genisteae. Retama broom bushes are found natively in North Africa, the Levant and some parts of southern Europe. The GRIN database lists three species: Retama raetam, Retama monosperma, and Retama...
, Sesbania
Sesbania
Sesbania is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae and the only genus found in Tribe Sesbanieae. Notable species include the Rattlebox , Spiny Sesbania , and Sesbania sesban, which is used in cooking...
, seyal
Acacia seyal
Acacia seyal, the Red acacia, known also as the shittah tree , is a thorny, 6–10 m high tree with a pale greenish or reddish bark. At the base of the 3–10 cm feathery leaves there are two straight, light grey thorns, growing to 7–20 cm long...
. (List incomplete).
Addendum for textile words
The list above included the textiles cotton, damask, gauze, macrame, mohair, & muslin, and the textile dyes alizarin, alkanet, anil, kermes/carmine, & fustic. The following are eight lesser-used textile fabric words that were not listed. Some of them are archaic. Baldachin http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/baldachin, Barracan http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/barracan, Basan http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/basan, CamletCamlet
Camlet, also commonly known as camelot or camblet, is a woven fabric that might have originally been made of camel or goat's hair, now chiefly of goat's hair and silk, or of wool and cotton...
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/camlet, Cordovan http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cordovan, Marabou http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/marabou, Morocco leather
Morocco leather
Morocco leather is a leather made from goatskin, dyed red on the grain side and then tanned by hand to bring up the grain in a bird's-eye pattern....
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/morocco, and Tabby http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tabby. Those have established Arabic ancestry. The following are six textile fabric words whose ancestry is not established and not adequately in evidence, but Arabic ancestry is entertained by many reporters. Five of the six have Late Medieval start dates in the Western languages and the sixth started in the 16th century. Buckram
Buckram
Buckram is a stiff cloth, made of cotton, and still occasionally linen, which is used to cover and protect books. Buckram can also be used to stiffen clothes. Modern buckrams have been stiffened by soaking in a substance, usually now pyroxylin, to fill the gaps between the fibres.In the Middle...
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/buckram, Chiffon
Chiffon (fabric)
Chiffon, , from the French word for a cloth or rag, is a lightweight, balanced plain-woven sheer fabric woven of alternate S- and Z-twist crepe yarns. The twist in the crepe yarns puckers the fabric slightly in both directions after weaving, giving it some stretch and a slightly rough...
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chiffon, Fustian
Fustian
Fustian is a term for a variety of heavy woven, mostly cotton fabrics, chiefly prepared for menswear. It is also used to refer to pompous, inflated or pretentious writing or speech, from at least the time of Shakespeare...
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fustian, Gabardine
Gabardine
Gabardine is a tough, tightly woven fabric used to make suits, overcoats, trousers, uniforms, windbreakers, and other garments. The fibre used to make the fabric is traditionally worsted wool, but may also be cotton, texturized polyester, or a blend. Gabardine is woven as a warp-faced steep or...
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gaberdine, Satin
Satin
Satin is a weave that typically has a glossy surface and a dull back. It is a warp-dominated weaving technique that forms a minimum number of interlacings in a fabric. If a fabric is formed with a satin weave using filament fibres such as silk, nylon, or polyester, the corresponding fabric is...
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/satin, and Wadding (padding)
Wadding
Wadding is a disc of material used in guns to seal gas behind a projectile or to separate powder from shot.Wadding can be crucial to a gun's efficiency, since any gas that leaks past a projectile as it is being fired is wasted. A harder or more carefully designed item which serves this purpose is...
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wadding. The fabric Taffeta
Taffeta
Taffeta is a crisp, smooth plain woven fabric made from silk or synthetic fibers. The word is Persian in origin, and means "twisted woven." It is considered to be a "high end" fabric, suitable for use in ball gowns, wedding dresses, and in interiors for curtains or wallcovering. There are two...
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/taffeta has provenance in 14th century French and Italian and comes ultimately from a Persian word for weaving, and it may have Arabic intermediation. Carthamin
Carthamin
Carthamin is a natural red pigment derived from safflower , earlier known as carthamine. It is used as a dye and a food coloring. As a food additive, it is known as Natural Red 26....
is another old textile dye with Arabic etymology: قرطم qirtim | qurtum. The textile industry was the largest manufacturing industry in the Islamic countries in the medieval and early modern eras.
Addendum for Middle Eastern cuisine words
Part of the vocabulary of Middle Eastern cuisine is from Turkish, not Arabic. The following words are from Arabic, although some of them have entered the West via Turkish. Baba ghanoushBaba ghanoush
Baba ghanoush, baba ganush, baba ghannouj or baba ghannoug is a Levantine dish of aubergine mashed and mixed with virgin olive oil and various seasonings. A popular preparation method is for the eggplant to be baked or broiled over an open flame before peeling, so that the pulp is soft and has a...
, Bulgur
Bulgur
Bulgur is a cereal food made from several different wheat species, most often from durum wheat. In the United States it is most often made from white wheat. Its use is most common in Middle Eastern cuisine, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Armenia and Bulgaria...
, Couscous
Couscous
Couscous is a Berber dish of semolina traditionally served with a meat or vegetable stew spooned over it. Couscous is a staple food throughout Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.-Etymology:...
, Falafel
Falafel
Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. Falafel is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces...
, Fattoush
Fattoush
Fattoush is a Levantine bread salad made from toasted or fried pieces of pita bread combined with mixed greens and other vegetables. Fattoush belongs to the family of dishes known as fattat or fatta, which are made in the Levant by Arab cooks using stale flatbread as a base...
, Halva
Halva
Halva refers to many types of dense, sweet confections, served across the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Malta and the Jewish world.The term halva ,...
, Hummus
Hummus
Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6. The chickpeas make it a good source of protein and dietary fiber; the tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds, which are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine, complementing the proteins in the...
, Kibbeh
Kibbeh
Kibbeh or kibbe is an Arab dish made of bulgur or rice and chopped meat. The best-known variety is a torpedo-shaped fried croquette stuffed with minced beef or lamb. Other types of kibbeh may be shaped into balls or patties, and baked or cooked in broth.Kibbeh is a popular dish in Levantine...
, Kebab
Kebab
Kebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...
, Lahmacun
Lahmacun
Lahmacun or lahmajoun , from , , "meat with dough", is an item of prepared food originating in the early Syrian cuisine of the Levant, consisting of a round, thin piece of dough topped with minced meat...
, Shawarma
Shawarma
Shawarma is a Levantine Arab sandwich-like wrap of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats. The meat is placed on a spit, and may be grilled for as long as a day. It is eaten with pita bread, tabbouleh, fattoush, taboon bread, tomato and cucumber. Toppings include tahini, hummus,...
, Tabouleh, Tahini
Tahini
Tahini or sesame paste , is a paste of ground sesame seeds used in cooking. North African, Greek and West Asian tahini is made of hulled, lightly roasted seeds. East Asian sesame paste is made of unhulled seeds. The Arabic word tahin simply means flour.Tahini is a major component of hummus and...
, Za'atar
Za'atar
Za'atar is a generic name for a family of related Middle Eastern herbs from the genera Origanum , Calamintha , Thymus vulgaris and Satureja . It is also the name for a condiment made from the dried herb, mixed together with sesame seeds, dried sumac, and often salt, as well as other spices...
.... and some cuisine words of lesser circulation are Ful medames
Ful Medames
Fūl medammis , or simply fūl, is an Egyptian dish of cooked and mashed fava beans served with olive oil, chopped parsley, onion, garlic, and lemon juice. A staple meal in Egypt, it is popular in the cuisines of the Levant, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Saudi Arabia.-History:The roots of fūl...
, Kabsa
Kabsa
Kabsa is a family of rice dishes that are served mostly in Saudi Arabia — where it is commonly regarded as a national dish — and the other Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Kabsa, though, is believed to be indigenous to Yemen...
, Kushari
Kushari
Kushari, also koshary, kosheri or koshari, is an Egyptian dish of rice, lentils, chickpeas and macaroni. Toppings include tomato sauce, garlic sauce and fried onion.Kushari is a vegetarian dish that is very popular in Egypt...
, Labneh, Mulukhiyah
Mulukhiyah
Mulukhiyah, mloukhiya, molokhia, mulukhiyya, or malukhiyah is the leaves of jute and related Corchorus species used as a vegetable in Middle Eastern, East African, North African, and South Asian cuisine...
, Ma'amoul
Ma'amoul
Ma'amoul are small shortbread pastries filled with dates, pistachios or walnuts . They are popular in Levantine cuisine and in the Gulf countries. They may be in the shape of balls or of domed or flattened cookies...
, Shanklish
Shanklish
Shanklish , also known as shinklish, shankleesh, sorke, or sürke, is a type of cow's milk or sheep milk cheese in Levantine. It is typically formed into balls of approximately 6 cm diameter, which are often covered in za'atar and Aleppo pepper, and then aged and dried...
, Taboon
Taboon bread
Taboon bread ) is a flatbread wrap used in many cuisines. It is traditionally baked in a taboon oven and eaten with different fillings.Taboon bread is sold as street food, stuffed with hummus, falafel or shaved meat...
, Tepsi Baytinijan
Tepsi Baytinijan
Tepsi Baytinijan is a very popular Iraqi casserole. The main ingredient of the dish is aubergine, which are sliced and fried before placing in a baking dish, accompanied with meatballs, tomatoes, onions and garlic...
.... For more see Arab cuisine
Arab cuisine
Arab cuisine is defined as the various regional cuisines spanning the Arab World, from Morocco and Tunisia to Saudi Arabia, and incorporating Levantine, Egyptian .-History:...
.
Addendum for Arabic music words
Some words used in English in talking about Arabic music: Ataba, Baladi, DabkeDabke
Dabke is an Arab folk dance. It is popular in several Arab countries such as Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria,and Iraq. A line dance, it is widely performed at weddings and joyous occasions...
, Darbouka, Khaleeji
Khaliji (music)
Khaliji is the style of music native to the Arab states of the Persian Gulf . It is characterized by heavy use of the traditional tabl drum and music of the oud.-See also:* Ardha...
, Maqam, Mawal
Mawal
Mawal could refer to* Mawwal, a traditional genre of vocal Arabic music* Mawal, a region in Mahrashtra, India** Mawala, the soldiers from the Mawal region who served in Shivaji's army...
, Mizmar
Mizmar
In Arabic music, a mizmar is any single or double reed wind instrument. In Egypt, the term mizmar usually refers to the conical shawm that is called zurna in Turkey....
, Oud
Oud
The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
, Qanun
Kanun (Instrument)
The Qanun is a string instrument found in the 10th century in Farab in Turkestan...
, Raï
Raï
Raï is a form of folk music that originated in Oran, Algeria from Bedouin shepherds, mixed with Spanish, French, African and Arabic musical forms, which dates back to the 1930s....
, Raqs sharqi
Raqs sharqi
Raqs sharqi is the classical Egyptian style of belly dance that developed during the first half of the 20th century.Based on the traditional ghawazi and other folk styles and formed by western influences such as marching bands, the Russian ballet, Latin dance, etc., this hybrid style was...
, Takht
Takht (music)
For uses of Takht in contexts other than music, see Takht.Takht is the representative musical ensemble, the orchestra, of Middle Eastern music...
, Taqsim
Taqsim
Taqsim is the name of a melodic improvisation style that could be metric or non-metric, which usually precedes a composition in Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and other Middle Eastern music. The taqsim is usually performed by a solo instrument, yet sometimes the soloist can be backed by a percussionist...
.
Words that may (or may not) be Arabic loanwords
almanacAlmanac
An almanac is an annual publication that includes information such as weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, and tide tables, containing tabular information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar etc...
: This word's earliest record is in Latin in 1267, where it meant a set of tables detailing movements of stars in the sky. A lot of medieval Arabic writings on astronomy exist, and they don't use the word almanac. (One of the words they do use is "zīj
Zij
Zīj is the generic name applied to Islamic astronomical books that tabulate parameters used for astronomical calculations of the positions of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets. The name is derived from the Middle Persian term zih or zīg, meaning cord...
"; another is "taqwīm
Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...
"). The 19th century Arabic-word-origin expert Reinhart Dozy
Reinhart Dozy
Reinhart Pieter Anne Dozy was a Dutch scholar of French origin, who was born in Leiden...
said about almanac: "To have the right to argue that it is of Arabic origin, one must first find a candidate word in Arabic" and he found none. The origin remains obscure. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/almanac
amalgam
Amalgam (chemistry)
An amalgam is a substance formed by the reaction of mercury with another metal. Almost all metals can form amalgams with mercury, notable exceptions being iron and platinum. Silver-mercury amalgams are important in dentistry, and gold-mercury amalgam is used in the extraction of gold from ore.The...
, amalgamate: This word is first seen in the West in 13th century Latin alchemy texts, where it meant an amalgam of mercury with another metal. It lacks a plausible origin in terms of Latin precedents. Some dictionaries say the Latin was from Arabic الملغم al-malgham or probably was. But other dictionaries are unconvinced, and say the origin of the Latin is obscure. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amalgam
antimony
Antimony
Antimony is a toxic chemical element with the symbol Sb and an atomic number of 51. A lustrous grey metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite...
: This word was first used by Constantinus Africanus (crossref borage and racquet). He spelled it "antimonium". It may be a Latinized form of some Arabic name, but no clear precedent in Arabic has been found. The substance Constantinus called antimonium was well-known to the medieval Arabs under the names ithmid and kohl and well-known to the Latins under the name stibi | stibium. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/antimony
average
Average
In mathematics, an average, or central tendency of a data set is a measure of the "middle" value of the data set. Average is one form of central tendency. Not all central tendencies should be considered definitions of average....
: The early meaning of the word was a lot different from what it is today. Weekley (1921) says: "The origin of the word is nautical and from the Mediterranean, which makes Arabic origin possible, but its etymology is still unsolved, though few words have received more etymological investigation." Some dictionaries today say the origin is unclear and others flatly say it has an Arabic origin. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/average.
barbican
Barbican
A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from...
: Outer fortification of a city or castle. Recorded in French in 1160. There seems to be little doubt that the word comes from the Crusades. Perhaps from باب خانه bab khanah = "gate-house". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/barbican
carafe
Carafe
The carafe , is used for serving wine and other drinks. Unlike the related [decanter], carafes do not include stoppers.Coffee Pots included in coffee makers are also referred to as carafes....
: First appearance in the West around 1500 in Italian, 1570 Spanish. The Arabic hypothesis is that the verb غرف gharf means to scoop up water for a drink, which you can do by cupping your hands together or by using any scooping or lifting tool at all, and the name of the tool can be the noun غرافة gharāfa. Gharāfa is a good fit phonologically, and can carry the semantics of an intermediate container for a drink, but the word is almost completely absent from Arabic writings and almost completely lacking in other support from history. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/carafe
drub : Probably from ضرب ḍarb, to beat, strike or hit with a cudgel. The English word "appears first after 1600; all the early instances, before 1663, are from travellers in the Orient, and refer to the bastinado." http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/drub
fanfare, fanfaronade : The English fanfare is from French fanfare, which is very probably from Spanish "fanfarria" and "fanfarrón" meaning bluster, grandstanding, and windbag, which is perhaps from Arabic "farfar" meaning yap-yapping (onomatopoeic). This derivation is insecure even though there is no other theory for the word's origin. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fanfare
gala: The English word is traceable to Spanish and Italian gala = "fine clothing worn on special occasions", which may be perhaps from خلعة khilʿa = "an honorary vestment", "a fine garment given as a presentation". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gala
genet/genetta
Genet (animal)
Genets are Old World mammals from the order Carnivora, family Viverridae, related to civets and linsangs. All species are contained within the genus Genetta, although the Aquatic Genet is sometimes housed in its own genus Osbornictis....
(nocturnal mammal) : Seen in 13th century English, 13th century French and Catalan, and 12th century Portuguese. It is absent from medieval Arabic writings. Nevertheless an oral dialectical Maghrebi Arabic source for the European word has been suggested. جرنيط jarnait = "genet" is attested in the 19th century in Maghrebi dialect. But the absence of attestation in any earlier century must make Arabic origin questionable. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/genet
hazard
Hazard
A hazard is a situation that poses a level of threat to life, health, property, or environment. Most hazards are dormant or potential, with only a theoretical risk of harm; however, once a hazard becomes "active", it can create an emergency situation. A hazard does not exist when it is not...
: English + French hasard is attested in medieval times with the primary meaning of a game of dice. According to its etymology summary in a number of today's English dictionaries, it is probably descended via Spanish azar, attested 1283, from an unattested Arabic oral dialectical az-zār or az-zahr, "the dice". An alternative proposition, having the advantage of support in medieval Arabic dictionaries, derives it from Arabic يسر yasar = "playing at dice" and يسر yasar = ياسر yāsir = يسور yasūr = "gamester". The French hasard is attested more than a century earlier than the Spanish azar. It may not be from the Spanish. It may have entered French through the Crusader states of the Levant
Outremer
Outremer, French for "overseas", was a general name given to the Crusader states established after the First Crusade: the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli and especially the Kingdom of Jerusalem...
(as French was the Crusaders' main vernacular). Or it may not be from Arabic at all. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hazard
lilac
Lilac
Syringa is a genus of about 20–25 species of flowering woody plants in the olive family , native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and widely and commonly cultivated in temperate areas elsewhere....
: The earliest record of lilac in the West appears to be 1605 French. The earliest English is 1625. The early French and English had the exclusive meaning of the lilac tree (Syringa vulgaris). The word is widely taken as being descended from a Persian word for blueish color. The Persian is not attested meaning a tree or a flower; it is attested as a color. The Persian did not enter French directly, and a route of intermediation involving Arabic is a possibility. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lilac
mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
: Mafia comes from Sicilian mafiusu. Further etymology uncertain and disputed. Some propose an Arabic root for mafiusu; others say the word history prior to 19th century is unknown. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mafia
mask
Mask
A mask is an article normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes...
, masquerade, mascara
Mascara
Mascara is a cosmetic commonly used to enhance the eyes. It may darken, thicken, lengthen, and/or define the eyelashes. Normally in one of three forms—liquid, cake, or cream—the modern mascara product has various formulas; however, all contain the same basic components of pigments, oils, waxes, and...
: Late medieval Italian maschera = "mask" and/or Spanish mascara = "mask" is/are the source for the French and English set of words. The source for the Italian and Spanish is highly uncertain. One possibility is the Arabic precedent مسخرة maskhara = "buffoon, jester". In the context where mask was used, "the sense of entertainment is the usual one in old authors" (theatrical masks). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mask
massage
Massage
Massage is the manipulation of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue to enhance function, aid in the healing process, and promote relaxation and well-being. The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle"...
: Perhaps from Arabic مس mas, to touch. Another possibility is from Greek massein, to knead. The English word comes from French. The French is not recorded before 1779. Today's standard French etymology source says "the fact that the word appeared chiefly in accounts of travels in the Orient [i.e. the Middle East] seems to preclude the hypothesis that it came from Greek." The practice of massage was common in the Middle East for centuries before it became common in the West in the mid-to-late 19th century (see Turkish bath) but the Arabic word for massage was a different word (tamsīd|tadlīk). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/massage
mizzen-mast : Mizzen (or mizen) is a type of sail or position of a sail mast. English is traceable to early 14th century Italian mezzana. Most dictionaries say the Italian word is a derivation from the classical Latin word medianus = "median", even though the sail is positioned to the rear. Weekley suggests "It is possible that the Italian word, taken as meaning "middle", is really adopted from Arabic mīzān [ميزان] = balance. "The mizen is, even now, a sail that 'balances,' and the reef
Reefing
Reefing is a sailing manoeuvre intended to reduce the area of a sail on a sailboat or sailing ship, which can improve the ship's stability and reduce the risk of capsizing, broaching, or damaging sails or boat hardware in a strong wind...
in a mizen is still called the 'balance'-reef." " The carrack sailing ship mentioned earlier, in its early 15th century form at least, had a mizzen. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mizzen
mortise
Mortise
Mortise or mortice may refer to:* Mortise and tenon, a woodworking joint* Ankle mortise, part of the distal tibia joining the talus bone to form an ankle joint* Mortise chisel, a type of chisel* Mortice lock - a deadlocking lock....
: The word's origin in 13th century France is without an explanation in terms of French or Latin linguistics. A number of dictionaries mention an Arabic hypothesis. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mortise
tartar (chemistry)
Tartaric acid
Tartaric acid is a white crystalline diprotic organic acid. It occurs naturally in many plants, particularly grapes, bananas, and tamarinds; is commonly combined with baking soda to function as a leavening agent in recipes, and is one of the main acids found in wine. It is added to other foods to...
, tartrates : The chemical name tartar begins in 13th century Latin. It occurs often in late medieval Latin alchemy. Its origin is obscure. It is not in classical Latin or Greek in a chemical sense although there was a mythological hell called Tartarus
Tartarus
In classic mythology, below Uranus , Gaia , and Pontus is Tartarus, or Tartaros . It is a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld. In the Gorgias, Plato In classic mythology, below Uranus (sky), Gaia (earth), and Pontus...
. Medieval Arabic dictionaries have the name دردي durdī with the same chemical sense as tartar and with records going back centuries earlier. Therefore an Arabic parent for "tartar" has been conjectured by Skeat, Weekley, Devic, and others. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tartar
tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
: The English word comes from Spanish. A majority of dictionaries say the Spanish comes from the Amerindian language of Haiti
Taíno language
Taíno, an Arawakan language, was the principal language of the Caribbean islands at the time of the Spanish Conquest, including the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the Florida Keys, and the Lesser Antilles...
. But Harper reports that "Spanish tabaco (also Italian tabacco) was a name of medicinal herbs from circa 1410, from Arabic tabbaq, attested since the 9th century as the name of various herbs. So the word may be a European one transferred to an American plant." http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tobacco
traffic
Traffic
Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...
: Seen in Old Italian. A Mediterranean commerce word of unknown origin. Ernest Klein
Ernest Klein
Ernest Klein, OC was a Romanian-born Canadian linguist, author, and rabbi.Klein was born in Szatmárnémeti , in Partium — a region of Austria-Hungary at the time, it is now in Romania; he received his PhD at the University of Vienna in 1925...
(1967) suggests ultimate derivation from تفريق tafriq "distribution". Ernest Weekley
Ernest Weekley
Ernest Weekley was a British philologist. From 1898 to 1938 he was Professor of Modern Languages at the University of Nottingham. But he is best known as the author of a number of works on etymology...
(1921) notes an Arabic hypothesis taraffaqa, "to seek profit". Walter Skeat (1888) says "origin uncertain, but almost surely Latin". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/traffic
zircon
Zircon
Zircon is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates. Its chemical name is zirconium silicate and its corresponding chemical formula is ZrSiO4. A common empirical formula showing some of the range of substitution in zircon is 1–x4x–y...
, zirconium
Zirconium
Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name of zirconium is taken from the mineral zircon. Its atomic mass is 91.224. It is a lustrous, grey-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium...
: Today's definitions for zircon and zirconium were set by chemists in Germany around the year 1800. Medieval Arabic زرقون zarqūn was used to mean cinnabar
Cinnabar
Cinnabar or cinnabarite , is the common ore of mercury.-Word origin:The name comes from κινναβαρι , a Greek word most likely applied by Theophrastus to several distinct substances...
, red lead
Red lead
Lead tetroxide, also called minium, red lead or triplumbic tetroxide, is a bright red or orange crystalline or amorphous pigment. Chemically, red lead is lead tetroxide, Pb3O4, or 2PbO·PbO2....
, and similar minerals. The Arabic word is said to come from Persian zargun meaning golden-colored. The Arabic was clearly borrowed into Spanish as azarcon and Portuguese zarcão, but the connection between those and zircon is obscure. About half of the etymology dictionaries say zircon descends from zarqūn somehow, or probably does. The other half take the position that zircon's ancestry is not known beyond the late 18th century German word "Zirkon". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/zircon
See also
- Arabic influence on the Spanish languageArabic influence on the Spanish languageArabic influence on the Spanish language has been significant due to the Islamic presence in the Iberian peninsula between 711 and 1492 A.D. ....
- Influence of Arabic on other languagesInfluence of Arabic on other languagesArabic has had a great influence on other languages, especially in vocabulary. The influence of Arabic has been most profound in those countries dominated by Islam or Islamic power...
- List of Arabic Star Names
- List of French words of Arabic origin
- List of Islamic terms in Arabic
- List of Portuguese words of Arabic origin
- List of English words of Sanskrit origin
- List of English words of Persian origin
- List of traditional star names
- List of (medieval) Latin words borrowed from Arabic (in Latin)