Arabic
adjectiveproper nounnouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈaɹəbɪk//
- Australia//ˈæɹəbɪk//
- Scotland//ˈaɾəbɪk//
- //ˈæɹəbɪk//
- //ˈɛɹəbɪk//
Related to the Arabic language.
adjective
- 1
Related to the Arabic language.
an Arabic translation
nuances of Arabic inflection
One day my UN students asked me, "Which is the Arabic country where the best Arabic is spoken?" I quickly replied, "Bosnia." They exclaimed, "But Bosnia is not an Arab country!"
- 2
Expressed in a script that was developed in Arab lands (but is not always used in the Arabic language): 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
Arabic numerals
- 3
Of, from, or pertaining to Arab countries or cultural behaviour (see also Arab as an adjective).
White chalk on the fascia board above the Arabic-food stall reads "Lebanon" and "Lebs rule".
- 4
Arab.
I saw that in my workplace black co-workers had to unite with Arabic and white workers just to be able to win better wages and working conditions and certainly to be able to win a strike.
Etymology
Etymology tree Arabic عَرَب (ʕarab)bor. Ancient Greek Ἄραψ (Áraps) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós) Ancient Greek Ἀραβικός (Arabikós)bor. Latin arabicusbor. English Arabic From Latin arabicus, from Ancient Greek Ἀραβικός (Arabikós), from Ἄραψ (Áraps, “Arab”) [from Arabic عَرَب (ʕarab)] + -ικός (-ikós, adjective suffix). By surface analysis, Arab + -ic.
proper noun
- 1
A major Semitic language originating from the Arabian peninsula, and now spoken natively (in various spoken dialects, all sharing a single highly conservative standardized literary form) throughout large sections of the Middle East and North Africa.
Egyptian Arabic
Eastern Arabic
translated from the Arabic
‘Kinsman’ and ‘avenger’ meet in the same word in Hebrew and in Arabic; nor did Greek tribal custom keep them separate.
- 2
The Aramaic-derived script used to write the Arabic, Persian, Pashto, Urdu, and Uyghur languages, among others.
Near-synonym: Arabic alphabet
noun
- 1
A variety of the Arabic language.
He was speaking an Arabic that they'd never heard before and could barely understand.
- 2
An Arab.
That's the majority of working N'Yawkers. Blacks and Hispanics outnumber the arabics.
Classic Arabic didn't "turn into" the various Arabic vernaculars. There is disagreement over whether the range of spoken Arabics all have a single ancestor (seems unlikely), but Classical Arabic is a somewhat artificial creation based on at least two dialects.
- 3
Variant of Arabic numeralEllipsis of Arabic numeral.
A novel writer will usually spell out Arabics from one to nine, to accord with the tone of the genre.
Forms
- plural
- Arabics