Arabic words can be found throughout Africa, the Mid-East and India and therefore may show up in almost any colonial game. Sometimes they have been absorbed into Swahili, Hindi, English, or another language and mutated into unrecognizable forms by the absorption while other times they haven't changed much at at all. If there's a particular word you're looking for and it's not in this list, check the Index because the word may be under one of the regional topics. Also keep in mind that spelling may vary since Arabic does not use the Roman alphabet.
In this particular list, I tried to put those words that I thought might still be considered "Arabic" as opposed to those borrowed words that the users may not even realize came from another language. [Typical of the latter in English would be such words as: alcohol, algebra, algorithm, and admiral. All originally Arabic but now not recognized as foreign words at all by most English speakers.]
| abd el | A nominative prefix meaning "servant of" or "slave of", as in the name Gamal abd el Nasr. |
| abu | Father, father of |
|
afreet |
Powerful and evil demon, jinni, spirit, etc. (Arabic `ifrit) |
| ahadoo | Enemy |
| ahu | Brother |
| ahtak | Sister |
| ain | Spring or natural fountain |
| akkal | Band that holds the keffiyeh headdress in place |
|
amir, emir |
Leader of hundreds (Arabic amIr commander) |
| atwa | A cease-fire |
| azu | Bedouin incursions |
| baba | Grandfather |
| baksheesh | payment of a bribe or tip, also a demand for money by beggars (Persian bakhshish, from bakhshidan to give) |
| baraka | divine grace, blessing, something possessed by holy men of the religious aristocracy |
|
Bedouin |
nomadic tribesmen (Arabic badawl, desert dweller) |
| Berber | a member of any of various peoples living in northern Africa west of Tripoli (Arabic Barbar ) |
| bish'aa | A Bedouin "truth-test". The suspect licks a white hot piece of metal three times, then washes out his mouth in cold water. If his tongue is scalded then he is lying. This is considered the ultimate test by Bedouins. |
| bled | village |
| casbah | fortified building, a North African castle or fortress (from Arabic dialect qasbah ) |
| Dar el Islam | House of Islam, the Islamic world |
| dhow or dhou | Arabic - trading vessel having a long beak-like prow, large stern, and truncated lateen sail, common in the Indian Ocean. (Arabic dawa) |
| divan | The privy council of the Ottoman Empire (Turkish, from Persian diwan account book) |
| djinn | Spirits. The Bedouin recognize two kinds of djinn: omar and shaytin. The shaytin are evil and the omar are the good. |
| djundi | soldier |
| douar | one-room native hut |
| ein | A spring or waterhole. Ein is commonly the first part of the name of a waterhole, the second half being descriptive of the flora and fauna nearby or of someone's name. |
| fellah | peasant, also used derogatorily to mean simpleton (Arabic fallah) |
|
feringji |
European, from the word Frank (crusader French). |
| firman | a sultan's edict, safe passage for travelers |
| fonduk | Two-story inn built around a central courtyard where animals are stabled |
| gatztatz | special Bedouin judge in charge of deciding the extent of physical injuries during lawsuits |
| gassi | A flat open area between dunes in the desert. Often used in desert place names. |
| gom | blood vengeance |
| Hadj | A word for both the pilgrimage to Mecca, and for those who have completed the pilgrimage. In the second case it is an appellation of respect, and is often applied to aged men, whether they have actually made the pilgrimage or not. |
| Hamdul'allah (or Alhamdul'allah) | "Thanks to God." Used (by the speaker or the listener) whenever speaking about a past event, as in "Omar returned from the Hadj yesterday, hamdul'allah." |
| hams | Bedouin clan |
| haq | law |
| harem | Secluded part of a Moslem household to keep women separate; also the women therein (Arabic harim, something forbidden and haram, sanctuary) |
| hassi | A water well (perhaps a derivative of "oasis"?). Often used in desert place names. |
| hizb | army, as in hizballah (army of god) |
| ibn | A nominative prefix meaning "son of", as in the name Djamel ibn Saud. |
| insh'allah | "If God wills it." An extremely common term, used (by the speaker or the listener) whenever an Muslim makes a statement about a future event, as in "Tomorrow it will rain, insh'allah." |
| jamal or gemal | dromedary camel |
| kahin | Bedouin witchdoctor |
| kalb | dog, extremely derogatory when used as insult |
| keffiyeh | Arab headdress |
| khawi | Bedouin healer |
| khilf | a sacred Bedouin oath |
| maboul | crazy |
| madafe | village guesthouse |
| majnun | madman |
| marabout | descendent of holy persons, responsible for maintaining tombs, believed to have supernatural powers (Arabic murabit) |
| marhaba | blessings be upon you |
| marhabtein | blessings upon us both |
| medina | Arab quarter of city (1906 Arabic, madina, city) |
| mihrab | sacred niche in a mosque that faces Mecca (Arabic mihrab) |
| minaret | Tall slender tower of a mosque with one or more balconies from which the muezzin summons Moslems to prayer. (French, from Turkish minare, from Arabic manarah lighthouse) |
| mosque | building used for public worship by Moslems (Arabic masjid temple, from sajada to prostrate oneself, worship) |
| mubashi | one of the chosen few who can conduct a bish'aa truth test |
| muezzin | Muslim who calls the hour of daily prayers (Arabic mu'adhdhin) |
| mukhtar | village headman |
| mullah | an educated Muslim trained in traditional religious law and doctrine and usually holding an official post (Arabic mawla) |
| Nazarani | Christian (Nazareth) |
| oued | Algerian dry watercourse, gully (probably related to "wadi", Arabic wadiy) |
| sahbak | friend |
| salaam | A ceremonial greeting performed by bowing very low and placing the right palm on the forehead. (Arabic salam peace) |
| salaam aleikum | Peace be upon you. The proper greeting in Arabic. |
| sharif, sherif | descendent of Mohammad, of noble ancestry or political preeminence in predominantly Islamic countries (Arabic sharif, illustrious) |
| sheik | an Arab chief (Arabic shaykh) |
| Sidi (or Si) | proper form of address to a marabout |
| sultan | king of a Muslim state (Arabic sultan) |
| tashmis | ostracism, the worst form of punishment among the Bedouin |
| vizier | High officer of various Muslim countries, especially in the Ottoman Empire (Turkish, vezir, from Arabic, wazir [1599]) |
| wadi | Egyptian dry watercourse, gully (Arabic wadiy) |
| wallah | exclamation |
| weli | a Bedouin saint, either living or dead |
| zawiya | a pilgrimage destination, one ruled by a sheik |
Back to Glossary Main Page
Index A-M
Index N-Z
British Military Terms and Soldier Slang
China and the Far East
East Africa
Egypt and the Sudan
French North Africa
India and the Northwest Frontier
Old West
South Africa