Saharan

How to spell saharan

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce saharan

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does saharan mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to or characteristic of the Sahara, the vast desert region of northern Africa.

Saharan in a sentence

• The documentary explored saharan wildlife and the harsh climate of the dunes.

• Strong winds carried saharan dust all the way across the ocean.

Where does saharan come from?

Language of origin: Arabic

This word is built on the place name Sahara, which itself comes from the Arabic word sahra, literally meaning 'desert' or 'wilderness'; the related plural form sahara described the great expanse of arid land across northern Africa. European languages adopted the name for the vast desert, and English then added the familiar adjective ending -an to form Saharan, meaning 'belonging to or characteristic of the Sahara', a pattern seen in words like American and African. The name entered English geographical writing in the nineteenth century as exploration and mapping of Africa increased. A curious point is that because sahra already meant 'desert', the common English phrase 'Sahara Desert' technically says 'desert desert'. The main spelling trap is the single 'h' and the doubled 'a' in the middle, since the word is pronounced with a stressed middle syllable that hides how the vowels are arranged.

How the word is built

• Sahara (from Arabic sahra, desert)
• -an (adjective suffix meaning 'relating to')