Arabic Loanwords In English

Posted: 31 May 2008 07:29 AM CDT

The Arabic language has contributed hundreds of words to the English language by many different routes. That’s 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. Here’s a list of some of the common words that the Arabic language has bequeathed to English.

admiral (sĩ quan hải quân cấp cao; bướm giáp)
adobe (gạch sống)
alchemy - via Greek (thuật giả kim)
alcohol - the quintessence of earthly substances, originally from alchemy
alcove (hóc tường)
algebra - restoration of missing parts, later used in a 9th century mathematical book written by a Persian scientist whose name gave us algorithm (đại số)
almanac (niên lịch)
amber (than hồng)
apricot (cây mơ, quả mơ)
arsenal - factory
assassin - hashish user (thích khách)
artichoke
aubergine (cà tím)
burnoose - via Latin (áo choàng trùm đầu)
caliber (cỡ, đường kính, nòng; phẩm chất)
carat - via Greek
checkmate (thế bí)
coffee - possibly from the name Kefa, where the coffee plant originates
cotton
divan (trường kỷ)
elixir - medicinal potion, via Greek (thuốc trường sinh, tiên đan)
gauze - from the Persian for raw silk (cái lượt)
gazelle (linh dương gazen)
genie (thần linh)
giraffe (hươu cao cổ)
harem (hậu cung)
hashish (một loại thuốc lá ở Thổ, Ấn)
henna (cây lá móng - dùng làm thuốc nhuộm tóc)
jasmine - from Arabic via French (hoa nhài/ màu vàng nhạt)
kohl (một loại phấn đánh mi mắt của người A-rập)
lilac, from Persian for indigo (cây tử đinh hương/màu hoa cà)
lime (chanh lá cam/ màu vàng chanh)
loofah (cái xơ mướp)
lute (một loại đàn)
magazine - storehouse (kho vũ khí, ổ đạn)
mocha - named after a city in Yemen (một loại cà phê)
monsoon (gió mùa)
mummy - via Persian
muslin (một loại vải mỏng)
nadir (điểm thấp nhất, nơi tận cùng)
orange
safari - from Arabic via Swahili (cuộc đi săn)
saffron (cây nghệ tây, màu vàng nghệ)
sequin (đồ trang sức hình đồng xu)
sugar
tamarind (cây me, trái me)
tariff
typhoon (bão nhiệt đới)
zenith (đỉnh điểm)
zero

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