Algerian

How to spell algerian

8 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce algerian

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does algerian mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to Algeria, its people, or its culture.
2. nounA person from Algeria or a citizen of Algeria.

Algerian in a sentence

• adjective

  The restaurant served a traditional algerian stew with couscous.

• noun

  As an algerian, he kept close ties with relatives in Oran.

• adjective

  She studied the algerian coastline for her geography thesis.

• noun

  Every algerian at the conference spoke warmly about home.

Where does algerian come from?

Language of origin: Arabic

This word is built on the country name Algeria, with the familiar English suffix -ian that turns a place into an adjective or a name for its people, just as Italy gives Italian and Canada gives Canadian. Algeria itself takes its name from its capital city, Algiers, which descends from the Arabic al-Jaza'ir, literally 'the islands', a reference to several small islets that once lay just off the harbour before they were joined to the mainland. The Arabic name passed through Ottoman and European usage before settling into the modern Latinised form Algeria during the colonial period of the nineteenth century. The English adjective Algerian followed naturally once the territory was widely known by that name. The spelling trap is the soft 'g' followed by 'erian', which can tempt writers toward an extra letter or a 'j', even though the country name fixes the form firmly.

How the word is built

• Alger- (from Algeria, the North African country)
• -ian (adjective/noun suffix meaning 'belonging to')