Wiktionary

Arabic

See also: arabic

English

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Wiktionary
Arabic edition of Wiktionary

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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Arabic (not comparable)

  1. Related to the Arabic language.
    • 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, 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

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  • 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

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Proper noun

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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.
    • 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 alphabet used to write the Arabic, Persian, Pashto, Urdu, and Uyghur languages, among others.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Wikibooks has more about this subject:

Wikibooks

Noun

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Arabic (plural Arabics)

  1. A variety of the Arabic language.
    • 2004 April 22, Peter T. Daniels, “Taiwanese and their language”, in soc.culture.china‎[1] (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.
  2. (proscribed) An Arab.
    • 2000 July 20, Topprolmc, “OT - I participated in an obscene act today!”, in rec.motorcycles.harley‎[2] (Usenet):
      That's the majority of working N'Yawkers. Blacks and Hispanics outnumber the arabics.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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