Arabic - English, Loan Words: A

Today I'm posting a list of words whose roots come from Arabia and which at one stage are said to have been borrowed, or loaned from Arabic.

All words in the list below start with the letter 'A' and many start with the letters 'al' [al]. In Arabic this particular prefix means, 'the' and is often attached at the begining of nouns.

The words have been listed in alphabetical order and are followed by the root word in Arabic [xxx] and the Arabic meaning. On the line below is the meaning in English.

If I did need help with the English definition I used: 'The Oxford English Reference Dictionary' ISBN: 0-19-860046-1


Admiral
[amiir al baHr] commander of the sea
Commander-in-Chief of a country’s navy

Admirable
from amir (see entry above)

Adobe
[aT Tuub]
mud, unburnt sun-dried brick

Albacore
[al bukr]
young or premature camel

Albatros
[al kadus] the pitcher
Large long winged seabird

Alchemy
[al kiimyaa]
What you did before chemistry was invented

Alcohol
[al kuHuul]
Colourless, flammable, volatile liquid

Alcove
[al kubba]
recess in the wall, ~which might lead us to the English word cupboard???~

Aldebaran
The brightest star in the constellation of Taurus, forming the eye of the bull

Alembic
[al anbik]
the apparatus, or still, formerly used in distilling

Alfalas
[al fas-fas-ah]
leaves grown for animal fodder

Algebra
[al jabr] reunion of broken parts
The branch of mathematics that uses letter and symbols to represent numbers and quantities in formulae and equations

Algol
[al gol] the destruction
A variable star in the constellation of Perseus, regarded as the prototype of eclipsing binary stars

Algorithm
Historically the Arabic, or decimal notation of numbers

Alguacil
[al wazeer] the minister
A mounted official at a bullfight

Alidade
[al idada] the revolving radius
A sighting device or pointer for determining directions or measuring angles

Alkanet
[al henna] the henna shrub
A plant of the borage family which yields a red dye from its roots

Alizarin
[al isara] pressed juice
The red colouring matter of a madder root, used in dyingAlkahestThe universal solvent sought by alchemists (sham Arabic)

Alkanet
[al henna] the henna shrub
A plant of the borage family which yields a red dye form its roots

Alkali
[al kalf] calcinated ashes, kala fry, roast
Any class of substances that neutralise acids

Allah
The name given to God by Muslims

Almagest
[al megiste] greatest system
The title of an Arabic version of Ptomlemy’s astronomical treatise

Almucantar
[al mukantarat] sundial, kantara arch
A line of constant altitude above the horizon

Altair
flying eagle
The brightest star in the constellation Aquila

Amber
[anbar]
Fossilised resin from extinct trees, usually translucent and yellow

Aniline
[an nil]
a colourless oily liquid used in the manufacture of dyes, drugs & plastics

Apricot
[al barkuk]
orange, yellow coloured, juicy soft fruit

Arab
Relating to Arabia, or the Arabs

Arabia
Peninsula of SW Asia, largely desert

Arabian
Relating to Arabia

Arabic
The language of the Arabs

Arabica
arabicus coffee plant of the most widely grown species

Arabist
Student of Arab civilisation

Arsenal
[dar as sin-na] a place where industrial things are made, ie factory
A weapon store

Arsenic
[az zarnik] the orpiment
A highly poisonous white solid

Artichoke
[al karsufa]
The flower head of the artichoke, the bracts of which have edible bases

Assagai
[az zagayah] spear
Slender iron-tipped spear made of hard wood, esp. as used in South Africa

Assassin
[hassas] hashish-eater
A member of an Ismaili Muslim sect, in the time of the crusades, allegedly responsible for a series of killing of political and religious opponents

Aubergine
[al badinjan]
A dark purple fruit eaten as a vegetable, also called an eggplant in English

Average
[awariya] damaged goods
The usual amount, or an amount obtained by dividing the total of a given amount by the number of amounts in the set

Azimuth
[as sumut] the same way, direction
The angular distance from a north or south point of the horizon to the intersection with the horizon of a vertical circle passing through a given celestial object. The horizontal angle or direction of a compass bearing

Azure
[al lazaward]
a deep sky-blue colour