Arab

How to spell arab

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce arab

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does arab mean?

1. nounA member of the Semitic people originally native to the Arabian Peninsula and now spread across much of the Middle East and North Africa.
2. nounA horse of the Arabian breed, prized for its endurance, refined head, and arched neck.

Arab in a sentence

• Many arab traders crossed the desert by camel for centuries.

• The arab is famous for its stamina over long desert distances.

• The museum displayed ancient arab manuscripts on astronomy and medicine.

• She rode a grey arab in the endurance race across the hills.

Where does arab come from?

Language of origin: Arabic

The word travels back to the Arabic 'arab, the name the Arab people used of themselves, a term whose deeper sense is often linked to ideas of nomads or desert dwellers, though the precise original meaning is debated. Ancient Greek picked it up as Araps, and Latin as Arabs, the form from which most European versions descend. English absorbed it through Old French and Latin during the medieval period, used both for the people of the Arabian Peninsula and, by extension, for the famous Arabian breed of horse those people raised. The spelling has stayed remarkably stable, a tidy four letters with a single 'r', which is the main thing to remember since some writers are tempted to double it. The same root also lies behind 'Arabic' and 'Arabia', so the family resemblance in spelling is no accident.

How the word is built

• arab (from Arabic 'arab, the Arab people); a borrowed proper name, not built from a prefix or suffix