Arabic

American  

[ar-uh-bik] / ˈær ə bɪk /

adjective

1. of, belonging to, or derived from the language or literature of the Arabs.

2. noting, pertaining to, or derived from an alphabetic script in which etymologically short vowels are not normally represented, used for the writing of Arabic probably since about the fourth century a.d., and adopted with modifications by Persian, Urdu, and many other languages.

3. of or relating to Arabs.

4. of or relating to Arabia or its inhabitants; Arabian.

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noun

1. a Semitic language that developed out of the language of the Arabians of the time of Muhammad, now spoken in countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Ar, Ar.

2. the standard literary and classical language as established by the Quran.

Arabic British  

/ ˈærəbɪk /

noun

1. the language of the Arabs, spoken in a variety of dialects; the official language of Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, the Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen. It is estimated to be the native language of some 75 million people throughout the world. It belongs to the Semitic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages and has its own alphabet, which has been borrowed by certain other languages such as Urdu

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adjective

1. denoting or relating to this language, any of the peoples that speak it, or the countries in which it is spoken

Other Word Forms

• anti-Arabic adjective
• non-Arabic adjective
• pro-Arabic adjective

Etymology

Origin of Arabic

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English arabik, from Latin Arabicus “Arabian,” equivalent to Arab(ia) + -icus adjective suffix; -ic

Example Sentences

Indicators that the group may not be genuine include misspellings of the Arabic word for “Islamic” in its videos.

From The Wall Street Journal

A few years ago, an Exxon executive told an Arabic news outlet that the company had spent $30 billion on gas projects in Qatar since the 1990s.

From The Wall Street Journal

The word shares a root with the Arabic word for oil, and more than half of Asia’s supply comes from the Middle East.

From The Wall Street Journal

Al-Quds Day, named after the Arabic name for Jerusalem, is often held on the last Friday of Ramadan.

From BBC

He noted the word “rahi” means “shepherd” in Arabic, and that Al-Rahi was a “true pastor” who had rushed to help wounded parishioners “without hesitation.”

From Los Angeles Times