Bedouin
Americannoun
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Bedouins,
plural
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Bedouin
plural
-
an Arab of the desert, in Asia or Africa; nomadic Arab.
-
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.
See Examples For:
Before them stood 112 coffins containing bones and fragments of victims from the Abu Sharia and al-Hasayna families, two branches of the same Bedouin clan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
His Bedouin ancestors earned great wealth pearl diving—until foreign farmed pearls tanked the market and left the local economy in shambles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Most were from Bedouin and herding communities in Area C. At the start of this year, 600 people were forced from one Bedouin village, Ras Ein al-Auja, in the Jordan Valley.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
This year, low rainfall led to slim pickings in the West Bank, including for the tree whose many nicknames include the Elder, the Bedouin Tree and Mother of Olives.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 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
In the south, most Arabs are Bedouins, mainly Sunni Muslims who descended from nomadic clans that roamed the Negev Desert herding camels and sheep.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
As the unrest grew into open conflict involving Druze militias and armed Bedouins, the government dispatched its forces to stop the fighting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2025
"We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbours," the envoy said.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2025
Years ago, nomadic communities or Bedouins wore the traditional Arab headdress in historic Palestine, NPR reported.
From Salon ● May 1, 2024
Now I was drinking sugary tea with Zalabia Bedouins and squatting on a sand drift in Wadi Rum, the Valley of the Moon, less than twenty miles from the Saudi Arabian border.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
