Bedouin

American  

[bed-oo-in, bed-win] / ˈbɛd u ɪn, ˈbɛd wɪn /

Or Beduin

noun

Bedouins, plural Bedouin plural

1. an Arab of the desert, in Asia or Africa; nomadic Arab.

2. a nomad; wanderer.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Bedouin.

Bedouin British  

/ ˈbɛdʊɪn /

noun

1. 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

2. a wanderer or rover

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Bedouins

2. wandering or roving

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Bedouinism
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Bedouin
  plural
• Bedouins
  plural

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

Back in al-Mughayyir, settlers have already pushed Bedouin shepherds off their land nearby.

From BBC • Feb. 21, 2026

Clashes erupted last July in southern Syria between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes.

From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026

Last summer, she tried to bring aid into a southern city populated mostly by Druze after it was torn by deadly violence between Druze, Bedouin and Syrian government forces.

From BBC • Feb. 1, 2026

Other armed actors include members of long-established Gaza families and Bedouin clans, some with ties to Sinai.

From Barron's • Oct. 25, 2025

Poppy and Liyana in the front seat hadn’t even noticed the Bedouin tents perched far from the road in a crevice of shade between two dunes.

From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye