Spanish words from Arabic
24 Spanish words with Arabic in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
ajedrez
It is inherited from Old Spanish axedrez, borrowed from Andalusian Arabic الشطرنج (aššaṭranǧ), from Arabic شطرنج (šiṭranj). The Arabic word came from Middle Persian 𐭰𐭠𐭲𐭫𐭠𐭭𐭢 (čatrang), which goes…
alcoba
It is borrowed from Andalusian Arabic القبة (alqúbba), from Arabic قبة (qubba, “vault, dome”). The Academy takes the Arabic word back to Middle Persian gumbad (“dome of a fire temple”). The ⟨al-⟩ is…
alcohol
It is borrowed from Andalusian Arabic كُحُول (kuḥúl, “kohl of galena or antimony”), with the Arabic article ⟨al-⟩, from Arabic كحول (kuḥūl), plural of كحل (kuḥl, “kohl, antimony”). Corriente argues…
algodón
It is inherited from Old Spanish algodon, borrowed from Andalusian Arabic قطن (quṭún, “cotton”), from Arabic قطن (quṭn, “cotton”). The initial syllable is the Arabic definite article, taken over…
almacén
It is borrowed from Andalusian Arabic مخزن (maḵzán, “storehouse”), from Arabic مخزن (maḵzan, “depot, granary, storehouse”), with the Arabic article. The Arabic noun is formed from a root meaning “to…
asesino
It is borrowed from Arabic حَشَّاشِين (ḥaššāšīn, “hashish users”), the name given to the followers of the Ismaili leader known as the Old Man of the Mountain (11th century), who, drunk on hashish…
atún
It is inherited from Old Spanish atun, borrowed from Andalusian Arabic التن (attún, “tuna”), from Arabic تن (tunn). The Arabic word comes from Latin thunnus (“tuna”), which is from Ancient Greek…
azar
It is borrowed from Andalusian Arabic الزهر (azzáhr, “die”), from Arabic زهر (zahr), a word that in Classical Arabic means “flower” and in the spoken language came to mean “die” (the dice cube)…
azúcar
It is inherited from Old Spanish açúcar, borrowed from Andalusian Arabic سكر (assúkkar), from Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar). The Arabic article ال (al-), assimilated to the following /s/, survives in the…
cero
It is borrowed from Italian zero, an alteration of Medieval Latin zephirum, which is from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “empty; zero”), which was pronounced séfer in popular Arabic. The DLE puts the…
emir
It is borrowed from Andalusian Arabic أمير (amír), from Arabic أمير (amīr, “commander, one who commands”), the DLE and Corriente say. The Arabic noun is derived from the verb أمر (amara, “to…
gasa
Corominas considers it probably borrowed from Arabic قز (qazz, “silk; floss silk; gauze”), a word of Persian origin. He holds that it was not inherited from the Arabic of Spain but came through…
guitarra
It is borrowed from Arabic قيثارة (qīṯārah), from Aramaic קיתרא (qīṯārā), from Ancient Greek κιθάρα (kithára, “cithara, lyre”). Corominas also derives it from Arabic. Corriente, Pereira and Vicente…
guitarrista
It is formed from Spanish guitarra + -ista. Corominas lists it among the derivatives of the noun, first recorded in 1335, which is from Arabic قيثارة (qīṯāra), from Ancient Greek κιθάρα (kithára…
jarabe
It is inherited from Old Spanish xarabe, borrowed from Andalusian Arabic شراب (šaráb), from Arabic شراب (šarāb, “drink, potion; syrup”). The Arabic noun is derived from شرب (šariba, “to drink”), and…
jarra
It is borrowed from Andalusian Arabic جرة (ǧárra, “jar with a handle”), from Arabic جرة (ǧarrah, “earthen vessel”). Eguílaz cites the Latin equivalents hydria (“water jar”) and vas figlinum…
lima
1. The word for the fruit is borrowed from Andalusian Arabic لِيمَة (líma), from Arabic ليمة (līmah). Corriente traces the Arabic word to Persian لیمو (limu), and further to Sanskrit. Wiktionary…
limonada
It is formed from Spanish limón + -ada, the name of the fruit and the suffix of things made from something. limón is from Andalusian Arabic ليمون (la(y)mún), from Arabic ليمون (laymūn), which goes…
loco
It is inherited from Old Spanish loco, a word found only in Castilian and Portuguese, whose origin is uncertain. Corominas calls it obscure, perhaps Arabic. The DLE, Corriente and Wiktionary take…
máscara
It is a borrowing whose route is disputed. Corominas thinks it most likely came borrowed from Catalan màscara rather than from Italian maschera, because it appears late in Spanish, and because a…
naranja
It is inherited from Old Spanish naranja, borrowed from Andalusian Arabic نارنجة (naranǧa), from Arabic نارنج (nāranj), from Persian نارنگ (nārang), from Sanskrit नारङ्ग (nāraṅga, “orange tree”)…
ronda
According to Corominas it is inherited from Old Spanish robda, earlier arobda, borrowed from Andalusian Arabic رَابِطَة (rābiṭa, “patrol of mounted warriors”), in its plural, which he writes rubṭ…
tabaco
The plant and the habit of smoking it come from the Americas, but the origin of the name is disputed. Corominas, followed by the DLE, holds that it is borrowed from Arabic طُبَّاق (ṭubbāq), the name…
taza
It is inherited from Old Spanish taça, borrowed from Andalusian Arabic طاس (ṭássa, “bowl”). The DLE traces the Andalusian word to Arabic طست (ṭast), the classical form, and to a Persian word for…