8 English Words You Didn’t Know Came From Arabic
In a recent episode of afikra Conversations, we dove deep into the Arabic language, linguistics, and etymology with Fadi Boukaram, known on the internet as @cedrusk. Alongside discussion about Fadi’s background, work as a photographer, and love for all things languages, he shared some fascinating stories about the origins of words such as ‘artichoke’ and ‘akedenia’.
This sparked a curiosity to learn more about Arabic words. Specifically, English words that come from Arabic. So we put together a list of common English words you’d never know came from Arabic.
A small disclaimer: as Fadi explains in the episode, etymology often consists of hypotheses as to the origins of words. Hence, the use of terms such as ‘thought to’, ‘could have’ and so on. If you know of alternate origin stories of any of these words, do let us know.
Admiral
Fadi Boukaram explaining the etymology of ‘Admiral’. Watch the full episode here.
Let’s start with ‘Admiral’, meaning ‘an officer of very high ranking in the navy’ or ‘commander of a fleet of ships’.
As Fadi explains, this word could trace its roots back to 13th century French, ‘amirail’. This word most probably entered the French language through cultural contact with Arabs, who used the term ‘amir al-’ to denote a chief or commander of something. For instance, ‘amir al-bahr’, meaning ‘commander of the sea’.
Another potential source could be the word ‘amir al-raql’, meaning ‘chief of transport’, which was used to refer to the fleet sailing between North Africa and Andalusia.
Alcohol
You might be surprised to learn that the word ‘alcohol’ might actually come from Arabic. It’s possible that it derived from the Arabic ‘al-Kuhul’, which first referred to powders such as ‘khol’. The meaning later transformed to denote ‘distilled or rectified spirits’.
Average
Though there are mixed opinions about the etymology of the word ‘average’, one theory posits that it comes from ‘awariya’ in Arabic which means ‘damaged merchandise’.
Alchemy
Alchemy comes from the ancient Greek word ‘khemeioa’. This could either have been a word for ‘land of black earth’ or ‘that which is poured out’. From the Greek, ‘khemeioa’ entered Arabic, becoming ‘al-kimiya’. This was adopted into Medieval Latin to refer to a ‘philosopher's stone’, and thereafter by Old French and then English. This is also the root of the word ‘chemist’.
Cipher
The word ‘cipher’ comes from the Arabic ‘sifr’ which means ‘empty, nothing’. The word traveled to Europe alongside Arabic numerals, and its meaning was distorted to mean ‘any numeral’, and then later ‘coded message’.
Sofa
‘Sofa’, the British word for ‘couch’, comes from the Arabic ‘suffah’ which refers to a “bench of stone or wood; a couch”.
Alcove
Alcove entered English through French and Spanish, ultimately stemming from the Arabic ‘al-qobbah’ which means ‘vaulted chamber’.
Carafe
A carafe, meaning a vessel for water, could come from the Arabic word ‘gharraf’ which means ‘drinking cup’.
Want to learn more about the Arabic language, etymology and linguistics? Listen to our full conversation with Fadi Boukaram for interesting facts about words like ‘Akedenia’, ‘Artichoke’, and more.
