English Words from Arabic

As with the list of Amerindian words, this list isn’t exhaustive-- the OED has over 900 words; but the others are obscure (words like enam, sulham, zibib). I’ve omitted speculative and less likely derivations, and also words borrowed in ancient times from some unspecified Semitic language (e.g. cumin, myrrh, sesame). I’ve also omitted Arabic place names, but included a few astronomical names.

After a second hyphen I give (if possible) the further derivation (Greek, Persian, etc.), or the verbal root (glossed as an infinitive; but the citation form of Arabic roots is actually the 3sg past).

Some words are borrowed directly from Arabic; but most of these words have taken the scenic route, through Spanish, Italian, and/or French; or through Turkish, Persian, or Urdu; or through Hebrew or Latin. This produces a good deal of phonological deformation; as does the dialect variation within Arabic.

Finally Unicoded. The transliteration generally comes from Wiktionary, though not all the etymologies do.

--M.R.


admiral - ʾamīru l-baḥr ‘ruler of the seas’ (and other similar expressions) - amara command
adobe - aṭ-ṭūb ‘the brick’
albacore - al-bakūra ‘the young camels’
alchemy - al-kīmīyā - from Greek
alcohol - al-kuḥl ‘the kohl
alcove - al-qubbah ‘vault’ - qubba vault
alembic - al-ʾimbīq ‘the still’ - from Greek
alfalfa - al-faṣfaṣa ‘fodder’
algebra - al-jabr ‘reintegration’ - jabara reunite
Algol - al-ḡūl ‘the ghoul
algorithm - al-Khwārizmī ‘the (man) of Khiva’
alkali - al-qaliy ‘calx’ - qalay fry, roast
Allah - ʾaḷḷāh, from contraction of al-ʾilāh ‘the god’
Almagest - al-majisṭiyy - from Greek ‘greatest’
almanac - (Andalucian Arabic) al-manāḵ, of uncertain origin
amber - ʿanbar ‘ambergris’
antimony - al-ithmid ‘antimony trisulphide’ - perhaps from Greek
apricot - al-burqūq - from Greek
Arab - ʿarab
arsenal - dār aṣ-ṣināʿa ‘house of making’, i.e. ‘factory’ - ṣanaʾa make
artichoke - al-ḵuršūf
assagai - az-zaḡāya - from Berber
assassin - ḥaššāšīn ‘hashish eaters’, from the Ismaʾili sectarians
attar - ’atir ‘aroma’
ayatollah - ʾāyatu llāh ‘sign of God’
azimuth - as-sumūt ‘the paths’; see also zenith
azure - al-lāzaward ‘lapis lazuli’ - from Persian

barbican - (possibly) bâb-al-baqara ‘gate with holes’
berdache - (possibly) bardaj ‘slave’
Betelgeuse - bīt al-jawzā ‘shoulder of the Giant’
bezoar - bāzahr - from Persian
bint - bint ‘daughter
bled - bilād ‘vast open country’
borax - bawraq - from Persian
burka - burquʿ
burnouse - burnus

caliber - qālib ‘mold, last’
calico - Qāliqūṭ ‘Calicut’, city in India, now Kozhikode
caliph - ḵalīfa ‘successor’ - ḵalafa ’succeed’
camise - qamīs ‘shirt’ - from Latin
camphor - kāfūr - from Malay
candy - short for ‘sugar candy’, from sugar + qandiyy ‘candied’, from qand ‘cane sugar’ - from a Dravidian language
carat - qīrāṭ ‘small weight’ - from Greek
caraway - karāwiyyā - probably from Greek
carafe - ḡurfa - ḡarafa ‘dip’
carmine - qirmazī ‘crimson’
carob - ḵarrūb
cassock - kazāḡand ‘padded jacket’ - from Persian
check - šāh ‘king’ - from Persian
checkmate - šāhu māta ‘the king is dead’ from Persian
chemistry - see alchemy
chess - from Old French eschecs, plural of check
cipher
- şifr ‘empty’
civet - zabād
coffee - qahwa
Copt - quft - from Greek ‘drachma’
cork - qūrq
cotton - quṭn
couscous - kuskus - kaskasa pound, bruise
crimson - qirmazī, related to the qirmiz, the insect that provided the dye

Deneb - ḏanab ad-dajāja ‘tail of the hen’
dhow - dāw
dinar - dīnār - from Latin
dirham - dirham - from Greek
dragoman - turjumān - tarjama interpret
drub - ḏaraba ‘beat’
dura mater - Latin calque on umm al-ghalīḏah ‘hard mother’

efreet - ʿifrīt ‘monster’
El Cid - al-Sayyid ‘the lord’
elixir - al-ʾiksīr ‘philosopher’s stone’ - from Greek
emir - ʾamīr - amara command

fakir - faqīr ‘poor man’ - faqura be poor
fardel - farda ‘load’
Farsi - Fārs ‘Pars’, a province of Iran - from Persian
fatwa - fatwā - ʾaftā instruct by a legal decision
fedayeen - fidāʾiyyūn ‘commandos’ - fidā` redemption
felafel - falāfil
fellah - fallāḥ ‘husbandman’ - falah’a till
felucca - falūka ‘ship’ - falaka be round
Fomalhaut - famu l-ḥūt ‘mouth of the fish’

garble - ḡarbala ‘sift’ - perhaps from Latin
gazelle - ḡazāl
genie - jinnī ‘spirit’
gerbil - jarbūʿ
ghoul - ğul ‘demon’ - ğāla take suddenly
giraffe - zarāfa

hadith
- ḥadīṯ ‘tradition’
haj - ḥajj ‘pilgrimage’ - ḥajja go on a pilgrimage
halal - ḥalāl ‘lawful’
halvah - ḥalāwa, from ‘sweet’
harem - ḥaram ‘prohibited, set apart’ - h’arama prohibit
hashish - ḥašīš ‘dried herbs, hemp’
hazard - az-zahr ‘dice’
hegira - hijra ‘departure’ - hajara separate, go
henna - ḥinnāʾ - from Persian
Hezbollah - ḥizbu llāh ‘party of God’
hookah - ḥuqqa ‘water bottle (through which smoke is drawn)’
houri - ḥūriyya‘with eyes like gazelles’ - h’awura have eyes like gazelles

imam - ʾimām ‘leader’ - amma precede
Islam - ʾislām ‘submission’ - aslama submit oneself

jar - jarra ‘large earthen vase’
jasmine - yāsamīn - from Persian
jinn - jinn ‘spirits’, plural of genie
julep
- julāb ‘rose water’ - from Persian

Kaaba - kaʿba ‘square house’
kabob - kabāb - from Persian
kaffir - kāfir ‘infidel’ - kafara conceal, deny
keffiyeh - kūfiyya
khamsin - ḵamsīn ‘fifty (days)’
kismet - qisma ‘portion, lot’ - qasama divide
kohl - kuḥl ‘kohl’ - kah’ala stain, paint
Koran - al-qurʾān ‘recitation’ - qaraʾa read

lilac - līlāk - from Persian
lemon - laymūn - from Persian
lime - līmah ‘citrus fruit’
loofah - lūfa a plant whose pods were used as sponges
lute - al-ʿūd ‘wood’

macramé - miqrama ‘striped cloth’
magazine - maḵāzin ‘storehouses’ - ḵazana store
Mahdi - mahdiyy ‘one who is guided aright’ - hadā lead
majlis - majlis ‘council’
mancala - manqala - naqala move
marzipan - marṭabān, possibly Mottama in Burma
mask - perhaps masḵara ‘buffoon’ - saḵira ridicule
mattress - maṭraḥ ‘place where something is thrown, mat, cushion’ - ṭaraḥa throw
minaret - manāra - nār fire
mohair - muḵayyar ‘choice (goats’-hair cloth)’ - ḵayyara select
monsoon - mawsim ‘eason’ - wasama mark
mosque - masjid - sagada worship
Mozarabic - mustaʿrib ‘would-be Arab
muezzin - muʾaḏḏin ‘criers’ - adhana proclaim
mufti - muftī ‘one who gives a fatwa
mujahedeen - mujāhidīn ‘fighters in a jihad
mullah - mawlan ‘master’
mummy - mūmiyā ‘embalmed body’ - mūm ’(embalming) wax’
Muslim - muslim ‘submitter’ - aslama submit oneself
muslin - Mauşil ‘Mosul’

nadir - naẓīr as-samt ‘opposite the zenith’
natron - naṭrūn - from Greek
nizam - niḏam ‘government’

orange - nāranj - from Sanskrit
ottoman - ʿUthmān, a proper name

pia mater - Latin calque on umm raqīqah ‘tender mother’
popinjay - babḡāʾ ‘parrot’
Primum Mobile - Latin calque on al-muh’ arrik al-awwal ‘the first mover’

racket - rāḥa ‘palm of the hand’
Ramadan - ramaḍān meaning perhaps ‘the hot month’ - ramaḍa be heated
realgar - rahj al-ḡār ‘powder of the cave’
ream (of paper) - rizma ‘bundle’
rebec - rebāb
Rigel - rijl ‘foot (of Orion)’
roc - ruḵḵ
rook (chess) - ruḵḵ - from Persian
Rubaiyyat - rubāʾīya ‘quatrain’

safari - safarīy ‘journey’ - safara travel
saffron - zaʿfarān
Sahara - ṣaḥārā ‘desert’
sahib - ṣāḥib ‘friend’
salaam - as-salām `alaikum ‘peace be on you’
saluki - salūḵī ‘from Saluḵ’
Saracen - sharqīyīn ‘easterners’ - shāraqa rise
sash - šāš ‘muslin’
satin - probably zaytūnī ‘of Zaytūn’ (a city in China)
scarlet - siklāt ‘(cloth) adorned with images’ - from Latin
sequin - sikka ‘die for coinmaking’
Sharia - šarīʿa ‘path’
sheikh - šayḵ ‘old man’ - šāḵa grow old
sherbet - šarba - shariba drink
Shiite - šiyaʿīy, from šiyāʿ ‘following, sect’ - šaʿa follow
shrub [drink] - širāb ‘a drink’ - šariba drink
sine - Latin sinus, mistranslation of jayb ‘chord of an arc, sine’, through confusion with jayb ‘fold of a garment’
sirocco - šarq ‘east (wind)’ - shāraqa rise
sofa - ṣuffa ‘raised dais with cushions’
souk - sūq ‘marketplace’
spinach - isfānāḵ
Sufi - ṣūfiyy ‘man of wool’
sugar - sukkar - from Sanskrit
sultan - sulṭān ‘sovereign’
sumac - summāq
Sunni - sunnī ‘lawful’, from sunnāh ‘rule, course’
sura - sūra
syrup - šarāb ‘beverage’ - šariba drink

tabbouleh - tabbūla
tabby - ʿattābiyy, a neighborhood in Baghdad where taffeta was made
tahini - ṭaḥīna crush
Taliban - ṭālib ‘student’ - ṭalaba study
talisman - ṭilasm - from Greek
tamarind - tamr-hindī ‘date of India’
tambourine - a small tambour, from ṭunbūr - from Persian
tandoori - tannūr ‘oven’
tarboosh - ṭarbūš
tare [weight] - ṭarḥa ‘rejected’ - ṭaraḥa reject
tariff - taʿrifa‘notification’ - ʿarafa notify
tarragon - ṭarḵūn - possibly from Greek
tell [mound] - tall ‘hillock’

ujamaa - jamāʿa ‘community’
ulema - ʿulamāʾ ‘the learned ones’ - ʿalama know

Vega - an-nasr al-wāqiʿ ‘the falling vulture’
vizier - wazīr ‘porter, public servant’ - wazara carry

wadi - wādīn
Waqf - waqf ‘religious foundation’
wisdom tooth - from a Latin calque on aḏrāsu ’l ḥikmi - calqued from Greek

zenith - samt ‘path’
zero - şifr ‘empty’