List of Arabic loanwords in English
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[edit] Introduction
There are dozens of loanwords from Arabic to be found in European languages. Many of them passed first through Spanish before being taken up by the other languages.
But some of these words from Arabic (a Semitic language) are in turn loanwords, from Latin, Greek, or from a fellow Semitic language (e.g., Aramaic, Akkadian, Coptic). In the list entries, efforts have been made to indicate the language of origin when it is other than Arabic. A list of dictionaries consulted has been given; annotations for individual entries for the mere purpose of confirming word equivalences have been deemed unnecessary. Detailed explanations have been given when substantial developments in intellectual or social history occurred that impacted the interpretation of a loanword. For example, the meaning conveyed by "alcohol" seems not not to have been borrowed from Arabic, but arose among European scholars after the word had been borrowed.
Rationale for inclusion in the list. This list has been edited to include words that represent some lasting influence of one culture upon another, specifically, of the Arabic speaking world upon Europe. Examples of "influence" are: new words for material objects, technology, intellectual knowledge, ideas, or cultural practices already possessed by European society; the adoption by European societies of new material objects, etc. from the Arabic speaking world. Hence, items which did not significantly cross over from the Arabic speaking world are excluded. That a society is aware of place names, folklore, garments, foods, etc. from another part of the world and has catalogued the words for these things in its dictionaries is viewed as falling short of that society having been influenced. A person who encounters such words in their reading will reasonably expect a dictionary of the English language to double as a microencyclopedia, "tourism guide", or "gazetteer" for foreign items that remain exclusively foreign. This list, by contrast, has a different purpose.
This criterion would lead to the exclusion of words such as arrack (an alcoholic drink), aba (a type of garment), afreet (type of demon; example of a vivid mythical concept useful for emotive expression), and Allah. As for Allah, every "Westerner" already knows what it means, and Westerners who do believe in a single God but do not follow Islam and are not Arabic speakers already have the words "God", "Dios", etc. at their disposal and so they are not going to adopt the word "Allah" for use in their own religious practices.)
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.
Presently, many of the Arabic script transcriptions are lacking appropriate shadda (indicator of consonant doubling in Arabic script).
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[edit] Loanwords listed in alphabetical order
| Contents |
|---|
[edit] A
- admiral
- عميرالبحار, 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-ghaṭṭās or al-γaṭṭās, the diver
- alchemy
- الكيمياء al-alkīmiyā7, in turn from Greek khēmia, khēmeia, art of transmuting metals<ref>[1]</ref>
- alcohol
- 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".<ref>Ball, chapter 9</ref><ref>Priesner and Figala, entry on "Alkohol"</ref>
- alcove
- al-qubba, the vault
- Aldebaran
- al-dabarān, the follower; used to name a star in the constellation of Orion
- alembic
- al-anbiq, still (in distillation), in turn from Greek ambix, stem ambik-, cup
- algebra
- al-jabr, the restoring of missing parts. This word 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 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.
- algorithm
- 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.
- alkali
- القلي from qalā, to fry, to roast. 'Alkali' originally meant a saline substance derived from the ashes of plants
- almanac
- al-manāx (or al-manākh), "the climate", possibly from Greek almenichiakon, "calendar"
- Altair (star)
- نسر) الطائر) (nasr) aţ-ţā7ir, the flying (eagle)
- aniline
- al-nili, in turn from Persian 'nili' meaning indigo, ultimately from Sanskrit nilah "dark blue"
- arsenal
- دار الصناعة dār aṣ-ṣināʕa, house of manufacturing
- artichoke
- الخرشوف al-xurshūf
- assassin
- from حشاشين ḥashshāshīn, those who use hashish (cannabis resin).
- average
- of disputed origin; possibly from ʕawārīya, damaged merchandise, or from Italian avere or French avoir, property, from Latin habere, to have
- azimuth
- السموت as-sumūt, the paths
- azure
- لازورد lazeward, in turn from Persian lajevard
[edit] B
- benzoin
- لبان جاوي labān jāwī, frankincense of Java, an organic chemical solvent from a resin of an Asian tree.
- Betelgeuse
- يد الجوزاء . The spelling with 'b' is a corruption of yad al-jawzā7 the hand of the central one<ref>[2], [3]</ref>
- burnous/burnoose
- برنوس burnūs, in turn from Latin byrrhus
[edit] C
- caliph
- خليفة khalīfa, successor (of Prophet Muhammad)
- camel
- جمل jamal, in turn from Latin camellus, in turn from one of the Semitic languages (which one is uncertain, but the term is found in Latin before Arabic)
- caramel
- possibly from Arabic, more likely from Latin cannamellis, burnt honey
- caraway
- كراوية karāwiya
- carmine
- ultimately from Sanskrit krimiga
- carob
- خرّوب xarrūb, locust; carob bean
- checkmate
- shah māt, the king has died, originally from Persian
- chemistry
- see alchemy in this list
- cipher
- صفر ṣifr, zero
- coffee
- قهوة qahwa. The coffee plant is native to Ethiopia.
- Copt
- Qibṭ, from Greek Aigyptios and ultimately from Ancient Egyptian hwt-k3-ptḥ (possibly pronounced *Hāwit-kāʔ-Pitáḥ), the House of the God Pitah.
- cotton
- قطن quṭun
- crimson
- qirmizī, of the dye kermes, in turn from Persian ghermez, red
[edit] D
- dragoman
- ترجمان tarjumān, in turn from Aramaic turgemānā, from Akkadian<ref name=Collins>Collins English Dictionary (1979)</ref>.
[edit] E
- elixir
- الإكسير al-'iksīr, (1) philosopher's stone; (2) medicinal potion. From Greek xērion, powder for drying wounds
- emir
- أمير, amīr.
[edit] F
- fellah
- فلاّح, fallāḥ, farmer
- fustic
- الفسطيط أو الفستيق fosṭeeṭ, ultimately from Greek Πιστακη pistakē, pistachio tree <ref name=Collins />
[edit] G
- garble
- γarbala, sift; ultimately from Latin cribellum, sieve
- gauze
- qazz, in turn from Persian kazh (كژ) "raw silk".
- gazelle
- غزال γazāl
- genie
- جنّ jinn, a spirit
- 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 γūl
- giraffe
- زرافة zarāfa
[edit] H
- harem
- حريم ḥarīm, "sanctity"
- hashish
- حشيش ḥashīsh, grass
- hegira
- هجرةhijra, departure; hajara, expatriation, immigration
- henna
- حنة ḥinna
[edit] J
- jar
- جرة jarrah, large earthen vase
- jerboa
- جربوع yarbūʕ. See also gerbil in this list.
- jihad
- جهاد jihād, striving
[edit] K
- kermes
- قرمز qirmiz perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit krmi-ja, worm-produced
- kohl
- الكحول al-kuḥl, kohl. Powdered stibnite, used for millennia to decorate the eyes and as an eye medicine. (Stibnite is an ore of the element antimony.)
[edit] L
- lemon
- الليمون, laymūn in turn from Persian leemo (ليمو)
- loofah
- from the Egyptian Arabic word lūfa.
- lute
- العود al-ʕūd, "the oud", the forerunner of the guitar.
[edit] M
- macrame
- miqrama, embroidered veil
- magazine
- maxāzin, (or makhāzin), storehouses,
- mascara
- uncertain origin; possibly from maskhara "buffoon" or from an unknown language. In modern Persian maskhara means to ridicule
- massage
- uncertain whether ultimately from either Arabic massa, to stroke, or from Latin massa, dough
- mattress
- مطرح maṭraḥ, (1) spot where something is thrown down; (2) mat, cushion
- mecca
- مكّة Makka
- 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 Mosul, where cotton fabric was manufactured
[edit] N
- nadir
- نظير naẓīr, parallel or counterpart
[edit] O
- Ottoman
- عثمان ʕuthmān, a male given name
[edit] P
- popinjay
- ببفا babaγā
[edit] R
- racket
- راحة rāḥa, palm of the hand
- realgar
- rahj al-ghar<ref name=Collins />
- ream (quantity of sheets of paper)
- رزمة rizma, bale, bundle
- Rigel
- رجل rijl, foot, leg. The star's name comes from its location at the "left foot" of Orion. It is a contraction of rijl jawza al-yusra, left foot of the Central One.
[edit] S
- safari
- سفر safar, journey
- saffron
- زعفران zaʕfarān (or za9farān), species of crocus plant bearing orange stigmas and purple flowers.
- sash
- شاش shāsh, turban of muslin. See muslin in this list.
- satin
- probably zaytūnī, of Zaytun
- sequin
- sikka, die, coin
- sherbet, sorbet, shrub, syrup
- شراب sharāb, a drink
- soda
- suwwāda, a species of plant
- sofa
- ṣuffa, stone ledge
- sultan
- سلطان sulṭān, ruler
[edit] T
- tabby
- 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"
- tamarind
- تمر هندي tamr-hindī date of India
- tarboosh
- طربوش ṭarboosh, modern Egyptian version of the fez
- tare
- tarḥa, discard (something discarded)<ref name=Collins />
- tariff
- تعريفة taʕrīfa (or ta9rīfa), act of making known; notification
- tazza
- طاسة ṭāsa, round, shallow, drinking cup made of metal
[edit] V
- vizier
- وزير wazīr, minister or official, adviser, ultimately from middle persian (pahlavi) vacheer, minister or judge.
[edit] Z
- zenith
- samt ar-ra7s, zenith, vertex
| Contents: | Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
|---|
[edit] Notes
<references/>
[edit] Bibliography
- 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
- 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] See also
- Arabic influence on the Spanish language
- List of French words of Arabic origin
- List of Islamic terms in Arabic
- 99 Names of God
