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Arabic

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: arabic

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
Arabic edition of Wiktionary

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin arabicus, from Arabia +‎ -icus, from Ancient Greek Ἀραβία (Arabía), ultimately from the Arabic عَرَب (ʕarab). By surface analysis, Arab +‎ -ic.

Pronunciation

Adjective

Arabic (not comparable)

  1. Related to the Arabic language.
    an Arabic translation;   nuances of Arabic inflection
    • 2008, Abdallah Nacereddine, To Be Oneself: The Tragicomedy of an Unfinished Life History, →ISBN, page 342:
      One day my UN students asked me, "Which is the Arabic country where the best Arabic is spoken?" I quickly replied, "Bosnia." They exclaimed, "But Bosnia is not an Arab country!"
  2. (of numerals) Expressed in a script that was developed in Arab lands (but is not always used in the Arabic language): 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
    Alternative form: arabic
    Coordinate terms: Roman, roman
    Arabic numerals
  3. Of, from, or pertaining to Arab countries or cultural behaviour (see also Arab as an adjective).
    • 2012, Deborah Youdell, “Intelligibility, agency and the raced–nationed–religioned subjects of education”, in Intersectionality and "Race" in Education, →ISBN, page 202:
      White chalk on the fascia board above the Arabic-food stall reads "Lebanon" and "Lebs rule".

Usage notes

  • The adjective Arabic is commonly used in reference to language, and in traditional phrases such as Arabic numeral or gum arabic. Its use is controversial and often deprecated in reference to people or countries, where the adjective Arab is preferred.

Translations

Proper noun

Arabic

  2. A major Semitic language originating from the Arabian peninsula, and now spoken natively (in various spoken dialects, all sharing a single highly conservative standardized literary form) throughout large sections of the Middle East and North Africa.
    Egyptian Arabic;   Eastern Arabic;   translated from the Arabic
    • 2021 April 25, John Malathronas, “Which languages are easiest – and most difficult – for native English speakers to learn?”, in CNN‎:
      Classical Arabic – the language of the Qur’an – will make you understood everywhere, but colloquial Arabic may be more useful, because once the locals start conversing with each other, you’ll lose the plot.
    • 2023, Isabella Hammad, Enter Ghost, Jonathan Cape, page 74:
      We’d gone to Arabic school as children and taken lessons in the summer holidays, and I still read the news in Arabic, but it wasn’t like I practised reciting the written language any more, with its complex rhythms and grammatical structures.
  3. The Aramaic-derived script used to write the Arabic, Persian, Pashto, Urdu, and Uyghur languages, among others.
    Synonym: Arabic script
    Near-synonym: Arabic alphabet

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Wikibooks has more about this subject:

Wikibooks

Noun

Arabic (plural Arabics)

  1. A variety of the Arabic language.
    He was speaking an Arabic that they'd never heard before and could barely understand.
  2. (proscribed) An Arab.
    • 2000 July 20, Topprolmc, “OT - I participated in an obscene act today!”, in rec.motorcycles.harley‎ (Usenet):
      That's the majority of working N'Yawkers. Blacks and Hispanics outnumber the arabics.
    • 2004 April 22, Peter T. Daniels, “Taiwanese and their language”, in soc.culture.china‎ (Usenet):
      Classic Arabic didn't "turn into" the various Arabic vernaculars. There is disagreement over whether the range of spoken Arabics all have a single ancestor (seems unlikely), but Classical Arabic is a somewhat artificial creation based on at least two dialects.
  3. Ellipsis of Arabic numeral.
    Alternative form: arabic
    A novel writer will usually spell out Arabics from one to nine, to accord with the tone of the genre.

Further reading

Anagrams

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