- Star names are not included in this article. For star names, please see List of Arabic star names, List of traditional star names, and other articles listed here.
There are numerous Arabic loanwords in English, i.e., words of English acquired directly from Arabic or indirectly, by passing from Arabic into a third language (often Spanish) and then into English. Some of these loanwords coming from Arabic are not of direct Arabic origin, but are loanwords within Arabic itself. As a result of the House of Wisdom and the Translation Movement during the Islamic Golden Age, Arabic acquired and preserved words from Latin, Greek, Persian, Sanskrit and other members of the Afroasiatic language family, including the Coptic language, derived from Ancient Egypt. Arabic also borrowed words from fellow Semitic languages, including Hebrew, Aramaic, and Akkadian. [edit] Reliability of etymological claims Speaking about etymological claims in general, interested persons are cautioned to examine them carefully for validity and detail. Many claimed etymologies are difficult to verify. Various dictionaries may differ among themselves on the etymology of a given word, to a minor extent or a major extent. Some etymological claims are nothing more than a speculation as to what the etymology could possibly be; an example of this is the claim that "monkey" derives from Arabic. Speculative claims are identified properly (as being speculative) by some dictionaries and not by other dictionaries. In cases where parts of the claimed etymology are beyond doubt, perusal of various dictionaries may reveal that the dictionaries differ among themselves on the details. Such as zipher[n] - Content and substantiation of list entries
A list of dictionaries consulted has been given. Detailed explanations have been given only for the few loanwords whose interpretation has been impacted by substantial developments in intellectual or social history. For example, the meaning conveyed by "alcohol" seems not to have been borrowed from Arabic, but seems rather to have arisen among European alchemists after the word had been borrowed. Furthermore, efforts have been made to indicate which Arabic words are themselves loanwords. But it has been deemed unnecessary to provide sources or detailed etymologies for the mere purpose of confirming that an entry is indeed an Arabic loanword, given: the ready availability of online dictionaries; the length of this list; and, the fact already mentioned that different dictionaries differ on the details of some word etymologies. [edit] Rationale for inclusion in the list Words not proven to be Arabic loanwords are listed below separately, following the section for the letter Z. This list has been edited to serve the purpose of identifying words that represent some lasting influence of one culture upon another, specifically, of the Arabic speaking world upon Europe. Examples of "influence" are: the adoption by European societies of new material objects, technology, intellectual knowledge, ideas, or cultural practices from the Arabic speaking world; the adoption of new words for already possessed material objects, technology, etc. This does not describe the situation of people referring to objects or beliefs in the course of discussing foreign places or societies. For example, the fact that a speaker of English may be curious about boats, beverages, or fairy tales distinctive to Arabic speaking cultures does not make the Arabic language names of boats, beverages, or fairy tale characters loanwords in English. This principle may be explained by some examples. The word "alidade" is the Arabic name for an ancient measuring instrument traditionally used by surveyors to determine line-of-sight direction. Despite other ancient names and very few English speaking persons have been surveyors, the device's name remains part of the traditional craft of English speaking surveyors. Somewhat differently, the name of the Islamic holy city of Mecca has come to mean in English also "a place that is regarded as the center of an activity or interest". This is fairly widely used in this sense by people even if they are not Arab or Muslim and when they are not referring to the city of Mecca itself. English speakers also use the Arabic word tell meaning 'hill' or 'mound' and would not have occasion to use it otherwise, except in its archeologically derived context. Therefore, the words "alidade", "Mecca" and "tell" rate as additions to English speaking culture and/or technology. By contrast, English speaking people do not refer to fortresses as "alcazars". Spanish speaking people may, but that is a matter of Spanish speaking history or culture, and English speakers would not have occasion to use alcazar except to discuss Spanish history or culture. Similarly, the English language has the word "God". English speakers who have monotheistic religious belief but do not follow Islam use the word "God", not "Allah". Therefore, 'alcazar', and 'Allah' do not rate as loanwords in English. As for star names, even astronomy enthusiasts do not know most of the star names of Arabic origin; therefore, Arabic star names are not part of any English speaking subculture, except for a handful of names that refer to the some of the most prominent stars. For explanations of words pertaining to Arabic speaking cultures, Islamic practices, or Middle Eastern geography, and for words which are loanwords in languages other than English, consult articles addressing those topics. [edit] Phonetic transcriptions As for phonetic transcriptions, three symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), [ʕ, x, γ] have been consistently applied. - [ʕ] is found in [ʕarab] 'Arab'. Traditionally, it is spelled with a single opening quote mark, but computer keyboards do not distinguish between opening and closing quote marks.
- [x] is like 'ch' in German, and it is usually spelled 'kh' in spelling Arabic words.
- [γ] (lower case Greek gamma) represents the voiced counterpart of [x].
Other transcriptions use non-IPA symbols which are standard in the literature on Arabic grammar and literature. The numeral '7' denotes the glottal stop as in the middle sound of the English interjection, "uh-oh". When an entire word is spelled in IPA, it is enclosed in square brackets per IPA standard. [edit] Loanwords listed in alphabetical order - admiral
- أميرالبحار, amīr al-bihār commander of the seas.
- adobe
- الطوب aṭ-ṭūb, the bricks.
- albacore
- الباكورة al-bakūra, perhaps from bakūr, premature.
- albatross (or algatross)
- الغطاس al-γaṭṭās (or al-ghaṭṭās), the diver.
- alchemy
- الكيمياء alkīmiyā, from Greek khēmia, khēmeia, art of transmuting metals[1]
- alcohol
- الغول - الكحول in the literature of late European alchemy, the quintessence of an earthly substance. See kohl in this list. The idea of "quintessences of earthly substances" and the use of "alcohol" to denote quintessences are developments in European alchemy in the 14th century. From the 1500s on, the denotation of "alcohol" narrowed down to "quintessence of wine" or "spirit of wine", i.e., ethanol, CH3CH2OH, as the term "alcool vini" (quintessence of wine) got shortened to "alcool" or "alcohol". The term alco(h)ol vini supplanted the original quinta essentia vini, "fifth essence of wine".[2][3]
- alcove
- قبة - طاقة al-qubba, "the vault".
- alembic
- الإنبيق al-anbiq, "still" (the distillation device), from Greek ambix, stem ambik-, "cup".
- algebra
- الجبر al-jabr, the restoring of missing parts. This word is reported to have entered Middle English in the sense of 'the setting of broken bones'. The modern mathematical sense comes from the title of a book, al-kitāb al-muxtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-jabr wa-l-muqābala, "The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing", by the 9th-century Muslim mathematician Abu Ja'far Muḥammad ibn Mūsa al-Xwārizmī. The appellation al-xwārizmī means literally "the Khwārizmian", referring to Khwārizm, now Khiva, in Uzbekistan. Another legacy of this mathematician is that his appellation gave rise to the word algorithm الخوارزمية.
- algorism
- [1] see algorithm in this list.
- algorithm or algorism
- الخوارزمي al-xwārizmī, the Khwārizmian. Appellation of the Persian scientist, Muḥammad ibn Mūsa al-Xwārizmī, who wrote the first book on algebra. See algebra in this list
- alidade
- عضادة , عِضَادة . A surveying instrument.
- alizarin
- العصارة al-ʕaṣārah, the juice. A dye.
- alkali
- القلي from qalā, to fry, to roast. 'Alkali' originally meant a saline substance derived from the ashes of plants.
- almanac
- المناخal-manāx (or al-manākh), "the climate", possibly from Greek almenichiakon, calendar
- alfalfa
- al-fisfisa, fresh fodder [2]
- alkanet
- الحنة '"al-hinna'"=the henna.[3]
- amalgam
- الملغم al-malgham. [4]
- amber
- amber/anbar, yellow [5]
- aniline
- نيلة - صبغ النيل al-nili, from Sanskrit [4]
- apricot
- البرقوق al-birquq
- arsenal
- دار الصناعة dār aṣ-ṣināʕa, house of manufacturing
- artichoke
- الخرشوف al-xurshūf
- assassin
- حشاشين ḥashshāshīn, Arabic designation of the Nizari branch of the Ismā'īlī Shia Muslims during the Middle Ages, literally 'user of hashish.
- attar
- عطر itr/utur, perfume,aroma. [6]
- aubergine
- الباذنجان al-bādhinjān, from Persian bâdinjân ultimately from the Sanskrit vatin gana.
- azimuth
- السموت as-sumūt, the paths
- azure
- الزورد al-lazward, 'lapis lazuli' - from Persian.
- barding (archaic term for horse armour)
- bardaʿah, packsaddle -any of various pieces of defensive armor for a horse covering, from Persian.
- benzoin
- لبان جاوي labān jāwī, "frankincense of Java". Benzoin is an organic chemical solvent extracted from a resin of an Asian tree.
- bezoar
- bazahr, from Persian.
- bonito
- bainīth.
- burnous/burnoose
- برنوس burnūs, from Latin byrrhus
- borax
- بورق buraq, from Persian.
- caliber
- قالب qâlib, 'mould', derived from Arabic.[5]
- camphor
- كافور kafur. [7]
- candy
- قند qandi, possibly a loanword.
- carat
- qirat, from Greek
- carafe
- possibly from غراف gharrāfa, see decanter. OED
- caraway
- كراوية karāwiya
- carmine
- ultimately from Sanskrit krmi-ja. See 'kermes' below.
- carob
- خرّوب xarrūb, (1) locust; (2) carob bean
- carrack
- qarāqīr plural of qurqur
- checkmate
- شاه مات shah māt, 'The king is dead'[6]
- chemistry
- see alchemy in this list
- cipher
- صفر sifr, zero
- civet
- zaba’d [8]
- coffee
- قهوة qahwa, itself possibly from Kefa, Ethiopia, where the plant originated.
- cotton
- قُطْن qutun
- crimson
- الكرمزي qirmazi, related to the qirmiz, the insect that provided the dye; from Sanskrit[4]
- curcuma
- From Arabic word kurkum =saffron, turmeric.[9]
- divan
- ديوان dīwān, from Persian.
- dragoman
- ترجمان tarjumān, from Aramaic turgemānā, in turn from Akkadian.[7]
- elixir
- الإكسير al-'iksīr, (1) philosopher's stone; (2) medicinal potion. From Greek xērion, powder for drying wounds
- fustic
- الفسطيط أو الفستيق fosṭeeṭ, ultimately from Greek πιστακη pistakē, pistachio tree[7]
- garble
- γarbala, sift; ultimately from Latin cribellum, sieve
- gauze
- ّقز qazz, in turn from Persian kazh (كژ) "raw silk".
- gazelle
- غزال ghazāl
- gerbil
- See jerboa in this list; the word "gerbil" is a European created diminutive of "jerboa", but the words refer to distinct species.
- ghoul
- غول ghūl
- giraffe
- زرافة zarāfa[8]
- harem
- حريم harīm, forbidden thing or place
- hashish
- حشيش hashīsh, grass, Cannabis
- hazard
- from French 'hasart', probably through Spanish, from Arabic al-zār, the die[4]; said by William of Tyre to be ultimately from the name of Castle Hasart' or 'Asart' in Syria[4]
- henna
- حنة hinna
- ifrit
- عفريت Ifreet an ancient demon.
- jar
- جرة jarrah, large earthen vase
- jasmine and jessamine
- from French. jasmin, , from Arabic yas(a)min ياسمين .[10]
- jinn
- Arabic is الجن al Jinn (note that genie is not derived from this, though it may be influenced by it)
- jerboa
- جربوع jarbūa. See also gerbil in this list.
- kermes
- قرمز qirmiz ultimately from Sanskrit krmi-ja, worm-produced[4]
- kohl
- الكحل al-kuhl, kohl, powdered stibnite
- lacquer
- lakk.
- lilac
- from Arabic lilak, from Pers. lilak, variant of nilak "bluish," from nil "indigo" [11]
- Lemon
- ليمون "citrus fruit,".
- lime
- ليمه leemah "citrus fruit," a back-formation or a collective noun from ليمون laymun "lemon"[12]
- loofah
- from the Egyptian Arabic word lūfa لوفه.
- lute
- العود al-ʕūd, "the oud", a forerunner of the guitar.
- macrame
- miqrama, embroidered veil (via French)
- mafia
- Perhaps mahyas, "aggressive, boasting, bragging."[9]; but the OED suggests another Arabic derivation, from Sicilian marfusu ('scoundrel'), from Spanish marfuz ('traitor') from Arabic marfud ('outcast').
- magazine
- مخازين makhāzin, storehouses,
- mattress
- مطرح matrah, (1) spot where something is thrown down; (2) mat, cushion
- mocha
- مخا al-muxā (or al-mukhā), city of Mocha, Yemen
- mohair
- مخير muxayyar, having the choice
- monsoon
- موسم mawsim, season
- mummy
- موميا mūmiyyā, embalmed corpse (ultimately from Persian).
- muslin
- derived from the name of the Iraqi city of موصل Mosul, where cotton fabric was manufactured
- nadir
- نظير naẓīr, parallel or counterpart
- nucha (anatomical term for 'nape of the neck')
- نخاع ، منخع , nape of the neck. Via Medieval Latin, from Arabic nuḫā', marrow, spinal cord.[10]
- nunation
- from the Arabic name of the 'n' sound: nuun نون . Medical term: overly frequent or abnormal use (as in stammering) of the sound of the letter n.
- orange
- From Arabic word نارنج naranj, from Sanskrit via Persian.
- popinjay
- ببفا babaγā Parrot.
- qat / khat
- قات kat The plant Catha edulis.
- racquet or 'racket'
- راحة rāhah, palm of the hand
- realgar
- rahj al-ghar,[7] a mineral
- ream (quantity of sheets of paper)
- رزمة rizma, bale, bundle
- roc
- rukhkh, possibly from Persian.
- safari
- from Swahili safari, journey, in turn from (Arabic: سفر, safar). [13]
- safflower
- عصفر , أصفر asfar, yellow .
- saffron
- زعفران zaffarān (or zaffarān), species of crocus plant bearing orange stigmas and purple flowers.
- sash
- شاش shāsh, wrap of muslin. See muslin in this list.
- sequin
- صقع sikka, die, coin
- sherbet, sorbet, shrub, syrup
- شراب sharāb, a drink
- soda
- perhaps from سوادة suwwāda, سويد suwayd, or سويدة suwayda, a species of plant
- sofa
- suffa, stone ledge
- sugar
- سكّر sukkar, sugar, ultimately from Sanskrit sharkara, gravel, pebbles [4] [14]
- sumac
- summāq "سمَاق", from Arabic.
- sesame
- From Arabic simsim سمسم originally from Akkadian shimshime
- tabby (fabric)
- عتابي ʕattābī (9attābī), deriv. of (al-)ʕattābiyya, quarter of Baghdad where watered silk was first made, named after a prince, ʕattāb
- tahini
- طحين ṭaḥīn, flour, which derives from the Arabic verb for "grind"
- talc
- طلق ṭalq, from Persian.
- tamarind
- تمر هندي tamr-hindī, date of India
- tare
- tarḥa, a discard (something discarded)[7]
- tariff
- تعريفة taʕrīfa (or ta9rīfa), act of making known; notification
- tazza
- طشت ṭašt, round, shallow, drinking cup made of metal. Amer. Heritage Dict.
- zenith
- سمت الرأس samt ar-ra's, zenith, vertex
- zero
- صفر sifr, cipher, zero.
[edit] Words that may be Arabic loanwords - average
- عوارية (بضاعة اصابها عطب في البحر) - متوسط of disputed origin; possibly from ʕawārīya, damaged merchandise, or from Italian avere or French avoir, property, from Latin habere, to have
- baccalaureate
- It has been suggested [15] that the Latin and general European term 'baccalaureatus' derives from the Arabic phrase bi-haqq al-riwayati, which occurs in Ijazah degrees that were awarded by Madrassas (Islamic schools) as early as 1147 CE. The OED, while admitting that its origins are not clear, do not link it to Arabic.
- barbican or Barbacan
- Outer fortification of a city or castle, perhaps from Arabic or Persian ‘ باب خانه bab-khanah =gate-house".[16], [17]
- camera
- القمره al Kamara, a small dark room; alternatively Latin camera, in turn from Greek kamara, vault[4]
- caramel
- possibly from Arabic, more likely from Latin cannamellis, burnt honey
- date
- دقل - بلح Possibly from Arabic daqal "date palm". [18]; alternatively from French datte, from Latin dactylus, from Greek daktylos, a finger, a date [4]
- drub
- possibly Arabic 'daraba', "beat". (OED).
- gala
- perhaps from Arabic khil'a, fine garment given as a presentation. [19]; so far certainly rooted in French gala, show - from Italian gala, finery[4]
- gibberish
- حيان jabir; the name of the Arabic alchemist, Jabir ibn Hayyan, whose name was Latinized as "Geber".[11]
- mascara
- uncertain origin; possibly from مسخرة maskhara "buffoon" or from an unknown language. In modern Arabic maskhara means to ridicule
- massage
- uncertain whether ultimately from either Arabic مسح massa, to stroke, or from Greek massein, to knead
- monkey
- Monequin is old French (recorded as Monnekin by Hainault in 14c.). May be a diminutive of a personal name, or could be from the general Romanic word and this could ultimately be from the Arabic maimun "monkey," literally "auspicious," but a euphemism, since the sight of apes was held by some Arabs to be unlucky. See Dictionary Reference.com.
- Mulatto
- disputed etymology either from Spanish (mulato, diminutive of 'mule') or Arabic.
- rice
- "riz", from Arabic رز. ; usually derived as O. Fr. ris, from Latin and Greek oryza, ultimately Tamil arisi [4]
- risk
- possibly from Arabic rizq, but also argued to be from Greek [20].
- satin
- probably from Arabic zaytūnī, of Zaytun, or Late Latin seta, silk
- talisman
- a blend of the Arabic loan from Greek and the Greek itself [21]
- tobacco
- usually supposed to be from Haitian, but possibly an application of an already existing European loan from Arabic tabbaq.[22]
- toque
- kind of round hat, possibly from Arabic taqa.
- traffic
- tafriq, distribution. According to [23], 'Klein suggests ultimate derivation of the It. word from Arabic tafriq "distribution."'
- ^ AskOxford: alchemy
- ^ Ball, chapter 9
- ^ Priesner and Figala, entry on "Alkohol"
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Chambers 20th Century Dictionary", E. M. Kirkpatrick (ed.), W & R Chambers Limited, Edinburgh, 1983
- ^ Harper, Douglas. "caliber". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=caliber.
- ^ Harper, Douglas. "checkmate". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=checkmate.
- ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (1979)
- ^ W. Montgomery Watt. The Influence of Islam on Medieval Europe. Edinburgh University Press. 1972
- ^ Harper, Douglas. "mafia". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mafia. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
- ^ nucha - Definitions from Dictionary.com
- ^ Seaborg, Glenn T. (March 1980), "Our heritage of the elements", Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B (Springer Boston) 11 (1): 5-19
[edit] See also [edit] References - Ball, Philip. 2006. The Devil's Doctor: Paracelsus And The World Of Renaissance Magic And Science. 1st American edition. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. 436 p.
- Concise Oxford English Dictionary (OED). 2004. Oxford Press
- Dictionary.com
- Madina, Maan Z. 1973. Arabic-English Dictionary of the Modern Literary Language. Pocket Books.
- Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (MWCD) Online
- Priesner, Claus and Figala, Karin. 1998. Alchemie. Lexikon einer hermetischen Wissenschaft. München: C.H. Beck. 412 p.
- Salloum, Habeeb and Peters, James. 1996. Arabic Contributions to the English Language. Beirut: Librairie du Liban.
- Wehr, Hans. 1979. A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (Arabic-English), 4th ed. Edited by J Milton Cowan. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
[edit] External links |
