Arabic

How to spell arabic

6 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce arabic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does arabic mean?

1. nounThe Semitic language spoken across much of the Middle East and North Africa, written in a flowing right-to-left script.
2. adjectiveRelating to the Arab people, their language, culture, or numerals.

Arabic in a sentence

• noun

  She spent two years learning arabic before moving to Cairo for work.

• adjective

  Modern accounting relies on arabic numerals rather than Roman ones.

• noun

  The contract was printed in both English and arabic for the Dubai office.

• adjective

  The museum displayed an exhibit of arabic calligraphy and tilework.

Where does arabic come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word travelled into English from the Latin Arabicus, meaning 'of Arabia' or 'belonging to the Arabs', which the Romans in turn took from the Greek Arabikos. Behind both lies the noun Araps (genitive Arabos), the Greek name for an inhabitant of the desert lands south and east of the Mediterranean, a name ultimately rooted in Semitic words for the nomadic peoples of that region. English adopted it in the late 1300s, first as a label for the people and their tongue and later for anything connected with their culture, from numerals to the gum harvested from acacia trees. The single r and single b are the quiet spelling trap: the word looks as though it might want a doubled consonant, but it keeps just one of each, with the familiar -ic ending tacked on. A useful memory hook is that 'Arab' sits whole and unaltered at the front, so you simply add -ic.

How the word is built

• Arab (the people and region of Arabia)
• -ic (adjective/noun suffix meaning 'relating to')