Etymologically
Log in

Arabs

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 23 October 2026 at 07:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈa.raps][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈaː.rabs][1]

Forms

Arabs m or f (genitive Arabis); third declension[1] The accusative plural is usually the Greek Arabas, beside Arabēs; the genitive plural is Arabum.[2][3] Inscriptions also have Araps.[2][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἄραψ (Áraps, “Arab”),[1][5] which comes from Arabic عَرَب (ʕarab).[1] The TLL calls it a Semitic name.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is Plautus, who lists Arabēs among other peoples.[2]

Semantic evolution

Cicero writes of Arabēs in partly Parthian dress, and Celsus refers to a certain Arab.[6] In poetry Catullus calls them soft, Propertius refers to their perfumes, and Ovid's palmiferī Arabēs, “palm-bearing Arabs”, stands for Arabia itself.[6][5] Propertius and Martial also use it as an adjective, “Arabian”.[5][4]

The Vulgate keeps it,[5] and Medieval Latin used it of the Arab peoples of the East: around 1232 Henry of Avranches writes of the books of Aristotle that the Arabs had recently sent to the Latins.[7] Italian arabo comes from it.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus names the Arabs in a list of peoples.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of Arabs in a letter.[6][4]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it as an adjective.[5][4]
  • 1232 – Henry of Avranches writes of the Arabs passing on Aristotle's books.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An Arab, Arabian;[6][5][3] (plural) the people of Arabia;[6][5][3] (by metonymy) Arabia.[6][5][3]

Adjective

  1. Arabian.[6][5][8]

Usage notes

The second-declension Arabus, -a, -um is used in the same senses.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  10. ^ Simpson, D. P. (1959), Cassell's New Latin Dictionary, London: Cassell