English words that come

from Arabic
Faten Hnaihen
History

Arabic words have made their way through English languages, although many English words did
not derived directly from Arabic. Some words were influenced into Greek and then into English.

Most of the influence came from the early 8th century when Arabs invaded modern day Spain
and Portugal. These people were known as Moors. Their language transferred into Latin and then
many people began to speak it.
History

After the Arabs invaded, came the Christians but many of the words have remained.

Arabic influenced Latin and Latin has heavily influenced English.

Arabic words entered the English language through a number of ways.

If you visit Spain today, you can see a lot of of Arabic remnants, buildings and historic sites in
cities such a Granada and Andalusia.
History

The men that came to conquer the land were not typical conquerors. They did not aim to kill the cultures of
others but to find a way to immerse cultures together. The Arabs allowed for the preservations of other
countries.

Arabic was a large influence to Europe in the Dark Ages. Arabs were largely known for their poetry. They take
great pride in having multiple words for anything they see. Arabs believe themselves to be unmatched when
it comes from poetry because the Holy Quran is a book written in poetic verses that has never been matched
in history. When people around the world converted to Islam, converts wanted to learn Arabic becuse they
believed it was “ the mother of all tongues first taught to Adam in Paradise.”
Algebra

Algebra is a word that originated from Arabic. The first Algebraic formulas were found in modern
day Iraq.
Algebra
The word algebra is Arabic just by looking at it. “Al” is
a very common Arabic prefix which means “the”.
Algebra in arabic means a reunion of broken parts. It
was first used in Iraq and has evidence in a book he
wrote which is called Kitab al-jabr w’al-Muqabala,
which means “Rule of Reintegration and Reduction.”

“Algebra” creeped into English in the 15th century and

it is believed it came from the Arab conquest in Spain.
The word algebra entered the English language
sometime in the 15th century. Word historians believe
it probably came from Arab medical workers in Spain.
Alcohol

Alcohol is another word with the al prefix which means “the”. Kohl comes from a word that was
a powder or something used as eye makeup. It is quite interesting how it has come to be a drink
but it is commonly believed that it came from the process of sublimation in which powder is
created from natural minerals.

The English word alcohol comes from the Arabic word al kohl. The original meaning of kohl was
a powder, or fine particles, that was added as makeup around the eyes. This then changed into
referring to when materials were purified to create ethanol and hence formed alcohol.
Chemistry

The word chemistry originates from the Arabic word Kemiya and one of the earliest times this
was seen was in Egypt from the word kam-it, which means the color black which could refer to
the land of Egypt, known as the Black Land. According to Ferrario (2007), a lot of works of
Chemistry has been left by the arabs such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, soda,
potassium and more.
Sugar

This word originates from the Arabic word sukkar. It has not only influenced the
Engish word but also the many Europeans words of sugar. Sugar is something that
originated in India and was considered something foriegn and intriguing to the
Europeans until the Arabs began to make sugar in Spain. When the Crusades
invaded afterwards, they brought sweetener to the West according to Etymonline.
Cotton

According to Merriam-Webster, the word cotton comes from the arabic word qutn. The Italians and the
French took the word qutn and then the English word cotton was influenced by that. The word cotton used
to be a verb meaning "to form a nap on (cloth)." We have changed the meaning of it, as now it is a noun and
not a verb.
Lemon

The word lemon comes from the Arabic word laimun. Some people say that lemons were irst
discovered in India or China. There are some writings that say Arab trades bought lemons from
India to the Middle East. After that, lemons found their way to Spain and then to the rest of
Europe.

Lemon is internationally known as a “pale yellow citrus fruit.”

The Number System

The number system we currently use are actually Arabic numerals. There
are alot of stories about where it came from but some say it started out in
India or even the earliest evidence from from Persia. Then they were
brought into Arabic through Iraq.
Sources

https://www.arabamerica.com/impact-arabic-language-culture-english-european-languages/
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/english-words-borrowed-from-arabic/4256013.html
https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/al-kimiya-notes-on-arabic-alchemy
https://www.etymonline.com/word/sugar
https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/cotton-2017-11-09#:~:text=It%20comes%2C%20via%20Anglo
%2DFrench,might%20have%20spun%20from%20it.