Etymologically
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arabe

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a.ʁab/[1]

Forms

arabe (plural arabes)[1] Old French arrabit, arabi (about 1100); arabe from 1564.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is a remodelling, after Latin arabus, of the old form arrabit, which perhaps came straight from Arabic عربي (ʿarabī).[2][3] The Latin word, a variant of Arabs, comes from Ancient Greek Ἄραψ (Áraps), borrowed from Arabic, where it perhaps meant “nomad living in tents”.[2][5][6] Wiktionary calls it a learned borrowing of the Latin noun.[1] The older adjective arabique (12th century) has the same origin.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has arrabit, a noun; the form arabe is first found in 1564.[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

At first the word referred only to Arabia; it was then applied to the peoples from Arabia who, with Islam, settled in Egypt, North Africa, the Near East and Spain.[2][5] It occurs in fixed phrases such as chiffres arabes, as opposed to Roman numerals.[2][5]

It had figurative, often pejorative uses reflecting social images: from the 17th to the 19th century un arabe meant a grasping usurer, as in Molière's sois arabe, corsaire.[2][5][7] In popular modern French, after the colonization of North Africa in the 19th century, arabe came to mean “North African”.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Arrabit in the Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • 12th century – The adjective arabique.[3]
  • 1564 – Arabe, in Jean Thierry.[5][3]
  • 17th century – Un arabe “a usurer”.[2]
  • 19th century – “North African” in popular use.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Arab, Arabian, of Arabia or of the Arab peoples: le monde arabe, les pays arabes.[8][1]
  2. Arabic, of the Arabic language: la langue arabe, chiffres arabes, Arabic numerals.[1][5]
  3. Cheval arabe: an Arabian horse.[8][1]

Noun

  1. Arabe: an Arab, a person of the Arab peoples.[1][8]
  2. L'arabe: the Arabic language.[1]
  3. (classical, familiar) A hard, grasping man, a usurer.[5][7]
  • arabique
  • Arabic عربي (ʿarabī)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 9a
  7. ^ a b Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert