Borrowed English Words from Arabic Quiz

Answer: Alcohol

The word alcohol was first imported into English in the 16th century, from the Latin. Latin translators, in turn, had borrowed it from various scientific works in Arabic during medieval times. The Arabic term is 'al-kuhl', sometimes translated as 'the essence'.

The term 'kuhl' (or 'kohl') might be familiar to you, it is the name of the antimony based powder that ancient Egyptian (and later Arab) women used as eye shadow. Arab scientists apparently used the term 'al-kuhl' to describe many substances derived from distillation, hence why this word came to be synonymous with booze...*hic*.

Answer: Yes

Indeed, coffee was originally an Arab drink called 'qahwa' that was not imported into Europe until the 16th century. Once it entered Europe's borders, this potable became an instant sensation! Ways to say coffee in other languages: 'caffe' in Italian and 'kahveh' in Turkish.

Incidentally, the original Arabic word for coffee ('qahwa') actually meant 'wine', but was used to describe this delicious dark drink that was grown in Kaffa, Ethiopia.

Answer: Magazine

The original Arabic word was 'makhAzin' (plural of 'makhzan'), meaning 'storehouse'. The English word 'magazine' still may be used in this sense to describe a warehouse, especially one in which explosives and munitions are stored. However, in modern English the word is now most commonly used to describe weekly, monthly or quarterly periodicals that may contain (or store) a multitude of stories, articles or other writings (though these days it seems that advertisements make up the bulk of them!)

Answer: Zero

Both 'zero' and 'cipher' mean the same thing, that is, nothing. Actually that's an oversimplification, perhaps it's better to say that they mean 'the absence of quantity'? Regardless, both words are derived from the Arabic word 'sifr' which also means nuttin'! Zero was part of the Arabic system of numerals borrowed by the Europeans, it came with the package. However, the Arabs did not create the concept of zero, unknown scholars of south Asia (i.e. the Indian sub-continent) get that honor!

Answer: Alphabet

Of course the word 'alphabet' was derived from the first two Greek letters 'alpha' and 'beta'. These letters, by the way, were originally of Phoenician origin, with the first two called 'aleph' and 'beth'. Alchemy is a tricky one. Though the 'chem' portion of the word is from the Greek, the 'Al-' prefix (Al meaning 'the' in Arabic) was added by the Arabs. Alcove is derived from the Arabic word 'al-qubbah' meaning 'arch'.

The word 'al-fasfasah', from which our 'alfalfa' is rooted, likewise referred to that commonly used grain. Alright! (No, 'alright' was not derived from Arabic...)

Answer: Average

The one you wouldn't expect, right? The word 'average' comes circuitously to English from the original Arabic 'awariyah'. As you may well know, much trade has occurred between Arabs and Europeans throughout history. The term for average apparently derived from the working out of an equitable deal wherein the various parties involved in a shipment of goods paid their fair shares for the damaged goods on board a ship.

It all averages out in the end, no?

Answer: Camel

Camel would make sense, wouldn't it? Actually, the word 'camel' is of Semitic origin, but is probably much more ancient than the Arabic language itself. It has its origin in the Semitic noun 'gml', common amongst languages such as Hebrew and Aramaic.

Interestingly...before Europeans found the wonderful word giraffe, they were calling that creature a camelopard. Gazelle and Albatross are also gifts to us from the Arabic, we must thank them for such charming words!

Answer: Cotton

The word 'cotton' is originally derived from the Arab word 'qutun', and this makes sense considering that some of the world's best cotton is grown in the Middle East and in India. The Arabs played a huge role in the cotton trade, and thus the word for cotton came from the Arab traders into the European vocabulary.

Answer: Kismet

What an excellent term, very useful! The original Arabic term is 'qisma', meaning 'lot'...as in, 'that's his lot in life'. The 't' ending was added by the Persians ('qismat') and it came to English via Turkish (via Persian, via Arabic!) I suppose you could say that this was the kismet of the word, to end up being celebrated at Quizzyland.

Answer: Nadir

Both 'zenith' and 'nadir' are words taken from Arabic, and both were originally used by astronomers. Zenith meant the high point of the celestial sphere, above one's head, while the nadir was the low point, opposite the zenith. The Arabic terms were 'samt ar-ra's' meaning 'over one's head' (zenith), and 'nazir' meaning 'opposite'.

In modern English usage these terms may also refer to the high and low points in some activity. I hope you enjoyed the quiz, thank you for playing!