Ever wonder where the words “gazelle” and “falcon” came from? It turns out that those two words have their origins in the Arabic language. In this blog article, we will explore 5 words you didn’t know that came from the Arabic language.

5 Words You Didn’t Know That Came From Arabic Language

Arabic is a very ancient language dating back to 3000 years. Many modern international languages don’t even come close to the history of the Arabic language. So, it is natural that Arabic words or their origins are found in other languages where Arabic words were adopted. Just like nowadays, English words are used in other languages like the word ‘television’ which is used in Arabic as ‘ تلفزيون’.

1. The Famous Seaport of Spain; Gibraltar

The name “Gibraltar” comes from the Arabic word “jabal al-tarik” which means “mountain of Tariq”. Tariq was the name of the Berber general who led the Muslim conquest of Spain in the 8th century. In Arabic, the word ‘جَبل’ means ‘mountain’ and the word ‘الطارق’ is the name of that general who docked all his fleet in that part of Spain. Later, it was named after him, as ‘جبل الطارق’ (Mountain of Tariq). Until the name was altered to ‘Gibraltar’ after the end of the Muslim reign over Spain.

2. The Word “Sugar”

There are many words that came from the Arabic language. One of them is the word ‘sugar’ which is one of the most important crops in the world. The original word in the Arabic language is سُكَّر’ (sukkar). English adopted the name but it was transformed into sugar. Remember there is no alphabet in the Arabic language which gives the sound of the letter ‘G’ as the sound of the letter G in the word ‘goat’.

3. The Word “Cotton”

Cotton is a widely used natural fiber with a fluffy fiber that grows in a protective case, around the seeds of cotton plants. The word cotton has Arabic origins and it is derived from the Arabic word ‘قُطن’ (qutn). Qutn was the Arabic word for “cotton plant”. The Arabic word ‘Qutn’ entered the English language in the 13th century.

4. The Word “Lemon”

Another English word that has origin in the Arabic language is the word ‘lemon’. Lemon is popular citric fruit and is called ‘لَيْمُون’. Orange is a popular fruit and it comes from the Arabic word “naranj”. Naranj was the Arabic word for “orange tree”.

5. The Word “coffee”

Coffee is a popular beverage and it is liked all around the world. The word ‘coffee’ come out from the dutch word ‘koffie’, which is a borrowed word from the Ottoman reign Turkish word ‘kahve’. The word ‘kahve’ has its origin in the Arabic language and it is called ‘قَهْوة’ (qahwa). Qahwa is a popular drink among Arabs.

Summary

The Arabic language has its footsteps in many other languages as well like Urdu, Turkish, etc. Above were the 5 words you didn’t know that came from the Arabic language. There are other words as well which belong to Arabic origin. I will be uploading more in later articles. Stay tuned!!!