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
-
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
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
The Bedouin each took a knee, except for Lateef.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
Years ago, nomadic communities or Bedouins wore the traditional Arab headdress in historic Palestine, NPR reported.
From Salon ● May 1, 2024
There are roughly 300,000 Arab Bedouins in the Negev desert.
From New York Times ● Apr. 14, 2024
"There are societies like Bedouins", she told the court.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2024
“The Bedouins are being whipped from both sides,” Abu Mdeighem said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2023
Poppy talked fast and heartily so that before they knew it, they were sitting in a circle with the Bedouins.
From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye
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.
