Bedouin
Americannoun
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an Arab of the desert, in Asia or Africa; nomadic Arab.
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a nomad; wanderer.
adjective
noun
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a member of any of the nomadic tribes of Arabs inhabiting the deserts of Arabia, Jordan, and Syria, as well as parts of the Sahara
-
a wanderer or rover
adjective
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of or relating to the Bedouins
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wandering or roving
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of Bedouin
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English Bedoynes (plural), from Old French beduyn (singular), from Arabic badawīn “desert-dwellers,” plural of badawī, equivalent to badw “desert” + -ī a suffix indicating relationship or origin; in the Western languages, the Arabic plural form -īn was interpreted to be part of the basic form
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Back in al-Mughayyir, settlers have already pushed Bedouin shepherds off their land nearby.
From BBC • Feb. 21, 2026
The Syrian authorities said their forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses and monitors accused them of siding with the Bedouin.
From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026
The dispute broke out early in the morning in the village of Kheshan between members of a Bedouin tribe, the official said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media.
From Barron's • Nov. 15, 2025
Under successive Egyptian governments, commercial development of the Sinai has been carried out without consulting the indigenous Bedouin communities.
From BBC • Sep. 6, 2025
A woman in the back said, “The Bedouin were also very upset, but they said they’d just handle it themselves.”
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.