Etymologically
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oasis

Etymology and origin of the English word oasis

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Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
Latin oasis

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /əʊˈeɪsɪs/ (UK); /oʊˈeɪsɪs/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin oasis,[2][3][4][5][6] from Ancient Greek ὄασις (óasis),[2][3][4][5][6] probably of Egyptian origin;[2][3][4][6] compare Coptic wahe, ouahe “dwelling place, oasis”.[3][4] Barnhart and Etymonline say it also came partly through French oasis.[3][4] The same Egyptian source produced Arabic wāḥa.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A fertile spot in the Libyan desert; hence any fertile spot in the middle of a desert (1613 in the OED and Merriam-Webster, 1616 in Barnhart).[7][5][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The name first referred to the fertile places of the Libyan desert[7][3][4] and was then extended to any watered, green spot in a desert.[7][2] By 1800 it was used figuratively for any fertile place in the midst of a waste,[4] and so for any refuge or pleasant relief from surrounding difficulty or unpleasantness.[2][5][6]

Timeline

  • 1605–15 – Random House's dating.[6]
  • 1613 – a fertile spot in the Libyan desert.[7][5]
  • by 1800 – figurative.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A fertile, green area in a desert, watered by a spring or well.
  2. A place or situation that offers refuge or pleasant relief from difficult surroundings, as in an oasis of calm.
  • haven
  • refuge

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Oasis.” Etymologically, 14 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/oasis. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·