Arabic Loanwords In English

Arabic Loanwords In English Arabic Loanwords In English Arabic Loanwords In English By Sharon The Arabic language has contributed hundreds of words to the English language by many different routes. Thats partly because in what my daughter likes to call the olden days (from around 700AD to the Middle Ages), the Arabic kingdoms had a great influence on Europe and the world. In part this was through colonisation, but there were also many great mathematicians, alchemists and astronomers. Of course, language development is not that simple. Not all the words that have entered English via Arabic originate from that language. Linguistically speaking, the Arabs borrowed as freely as they lent and their language included words originating from Spanish, Latin, Greek, Persian, Hebrew and many others. Many of the words start with the Arabic definite article al, which also appears in silent form without the l in words such as admiral. Heres a list of some of the common words that the Arabic language has bequeathed to English. admiral adobe alchemy via Greek alcohol the quintessence of earthly substances, originally from alchemy alcove algebra restoration of missing parts, later used in a 9th century mathematical book written by a Persian scientist whose name gave us algorithm almanac amber apricot arsenal factory assassin hashish user artichoke aubergine burnoose via Latin caliber carat via Greek checkmate coffee possibly from the name Kefa, where the coffee plant originates cotton divan elixir medicinal potion, via Greek gauze from the Persian for raw silk gazelle genie giraffe harem hashish henna jasmine from Arabic via French kohl lilac, from Persian for indigo lime loofah lute magazine storehouse mocha named after a city in Yemen monsoon mummy via Persian muslin nadir orange safari from Arabic via Swahili saffron sequin sugar tamarind tariff typhoon zenith zero Theres a fun quiz on Arabic loan words here and more words can be found here. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Words for Facial ExpressionsAbstract Nouns from AdjectivesPreposition Mistakes #3: Two Idioms