French Words of Arab origin

This list includes/understands words French which were transmitted by the Arab either directly, or by using Arabic as language-vector.

One estimates that the French language counts some 300 words coming from Arabic, against a hundred the Gaulois. These words relate to primarily the horsemanship, the Astronomie, the Botanique, the Vêtement S and the Cuisine.

Genesis of the lexical contributions

Many Arab words entered the French language via the Spanish , language itself strongly influenced by Arabic during the centuries of Moslem presence in the Iberian peninsula (see Al-Andalus).

Word resulting from the Arab language

With

  • Apricot (s.m.) (club-footed.) of albaricoque Spanish , coming from Arabic Al-barqūq (rear RTL ألبرقوق) itself resulting from Latin præcoquum : (fruit) early or of the Greek berikoko (βερίκοκο).

  • adobe (s.m.) of Spanish adobe of Arabic aṭ-ṭūb (rear RTL الطوب): dried ground brick.
  • Still (s.m.) of Al-inbīq (rear RTL إنبيق): apparatus intended for the distillation in particular of alcohol. The invention of the still would go back to the Egypt Hellénistique. The Greek word ambix (αμβιξ): capital of a still, was taken again by Arabic with article Al.
  • yellowfin tuna, alcarasaz (s.m.) of Spanish alcarraza of Arabic kurrāz (rear RTL كراز): gargoulette.
  • Alcazar (s.m.) of Al-Qasr (rear RTL القصر): strengthened palate. It could be a loan with Latin castrum whose diminutive castellum , gave manor house in occitan and finally castle .
  • Alchemy (s.f.)/Chemistry (s.f.) of Al-kīmiā' (rear RTL الكيمياء) coming either from the Greek or of the copte according to the current assumptions.
  • Alcohol (s.m.) of Al-kuḥūl (rear RTL الكحول) of the same root than the kohl kuḥul (rear RTL كحل) make-up with eyelids containing antimony, the verb kaḥala (rear RTL كحل) to have the encircled eyes, to have badly slept.
  • Alcove (s.f.) of Al-qubba (rear RTL القبة): cupola, via Spanish alcoba
  • Chestnut horse or alzan (rear RTL حصان): standard.
  • Esparto (s.m.) (club-footed.) of ḥalfa (rear RTL حلف): esparto; feather-grass; sparte. very tough Feather-grass, of which the sheets are used to make cords, Sparterie, plaits, paper pulp.
  • Long-leaved lettuce.
  • Ambergris (n.m.) ʿanbar (rear RTL عنبر): ambergris to ʿanābir (rear RTL عنابر): cachalot, very scented substance, and coming from digestion by the cachalots of the ink of octopuses.
  • Admiral (s.m.) of amīr Al-baḥr (rear RTL أميرالبحر): emir of the sea. Or of amīr rear-rāḥl : the word could have the same Latin origin as the Arab word.
  • sheik/Sheik.
  • Falaque (rear RTL قبالة): gabelle; tax; tribute.
  • Gandoura (s.f.) of ḥalāwa (RTL rear حلاوة: softness; confectionery.
  • Hamada, hanéfite, hanifite of mašriq (rear RTL مشرق): raising; Is; the East; the Middle East and the Middle East, by opposition with the Maghreb.
  • macramé (s.m.) of muḫarram (rear RTL مخرم): openwork; out of lace.
  • the Madrague, of madrib , the enclosure, the camp, which gave the Andalusian Al-madraba , place where one strikes fish with blow of beater (technique of fishing), then the Provençal madrag , enclosure of unquestionable fishing nets give the Greek origin masso (μασσω): to knead; to mass.
Marsipan cake???? --> Massicot -->
  • Mastaba (s.f.) of maṣṭaba (rear RTL مصطبة): stone bench; estrade; Egyptian trapezoidal monument.
  • chechmate to see failure and chechmate .
  • Mattress (s.m.) of maṭraḥ (rear RTL مطرح): bench; sleep.
  • Bludgeon (s.f.) of miṭraqa (rear RTL مطرقة): hammer; mass, of ṭaraqa (rear RTL طرق): to strike; to forge.
  • Fuel oil (s.m.): borrowed from Russian mazut , even direction, which would go up, probably via a language turco tatare, with Arabic mahFzūlāt “remainders, waste”
  • Méchoui (s.m.) of the adj. mašoui (rear RTL مشوي): roasted.
  • Médersa or medersa (s.f.) of Arabic madrasa (rear RTL مدرسة): school. The French word is used to indicate the large universities (Koranic).
  • Médina (s.f.) of madīna (rear RTL مدينة) to the clean direction: city; the old part of an Arab city.
  • medressé .
  • Minbar (s.m.) of minbar (rear RTL منبر): pulpit from where the Mollah makes his sermon.
  • Moghazni
  • Mohair (s.m.) borrowed from English mohair of Arabic muḫyyar (rear RTL مخيَر) with the clean direction: chosen, selected. Tease goat Ankara
  • moire (s.f.) moire (s.m. and adj.) even origin that mohair.
  • Mocha coffee (s.m.) of Al-Muḫā (rear RTL المخا): Mokha or Mocha coffee city (port) éponyme of the Yemen
  • Mollah or Mullah (s.m.) of mawlā (rear RTL مولى): helps; auxiliary; in Islam, titrates given to the religious personalities, the doctors of the law, it holds its load of the community or the State according to its diplomas and its knowledge.
  • Mummy (s.f.) of mūmyāʾ (rear RTL مومياء): mummy and/or of the Persan : mūm (RTL F موم): wax.
  • Mosque (s.f.) of Spanish mesquita , Arabic masjid (rear RTL مسجد): mosque; place where one prostrate.
  • Moucharabieh, moucharaby (s.m.) of mašrabīya (rear RTL مشربية): wood lattice allowing to see without being considering and to create shade.
  • Muslin (s.f.) of Al-mawṣil rear RTL الموصل: Arabic name of the town of Mosul in Iraq.
  • Moussem (s.m.) of mawsim (rear RTL rear موسم): season, festival; local festival with the Morocco.
  • Monsoon (s.f.) of Portuguese monção of Arabic mawsim (rear RTL rear موسم): season, festival.
  • Muezzin (s.m.) of the Turkish muezzin , itself of Arabic muaḏḏin (rear RTL مؤذن): that which calls upon the prayer (in Arabic aḏān rear RTL أذان).
  • Mufti or Muphti or Moufti (s.m.) of mudd (rear RTL مدّ): measuring unit for liquids or grain.
Latin seems more probable to me -->
  • murdjism or Murjisme (s.m.)/murdjite (s.m. and adj.) of murji' ā (rear RTL مرجئة): deferred returned to later. The murdjites would consider that the judgment of the faults must be deferred and left with God.

NR

  • Nabob (v.trans.) (slang) of nakaḥa (rear RTL نكح): to make love. Or of nikāḥ (rear RTL نكاح): coitus; sex act; marriage.

  • Noria (n.f.) of will nāʿūra (rear RTL ناعورة): bucket wheel intended to assemble the water of the river in an aqueduct, of will naʿara (rear RTL نعر): to shout; to squeak.
  • Spree (n.f.) of nūba (rear RTL نوبة): turn (because certain parts of work are interpreted in solo by each musician which plays in its turn): orchestrates; troop of musicians.

O

  • orange (s.f and adj.) (club-footed.) of Spanish naranja of Arabic nāranj (rear RTL نارنج) of Persan the nāranj (RTL F نارنج): bitter orange; Bitter orange. The sweetened orange comes from China brought by the Portuguese to. French kept the name of the old fruit. In Arabic the orange (sweetened) says burtuqāl (rear RTL برتقال).

  • Wadi, kiblat or kiblet (s.f.) of qibla (rear RTL قبلة): direction (of Mecque); south.
  • quintal (s.m.) of medieval Latin (quitale) of Arabic qinṭār (rear RTL قنطار): hundred kg.

R

  • Rabab or rebab.

  • zandj/zanj/zendj/zenj (s.m. and adj.) of zanj (rear RTL زنج) plural collective: negros; blacks; name given to the black slaves originating in Zanzibar and the east coast of the Africa.
  • Zédoaire (s.f.) (club-footed.) of jadwār (rear RTL جدوار): curcuma zedoaria.
  • Zédoarine (s.f.) bitter principle extracted the Zédoaire.
  • Zellige (s.f.) of zallīj (rear RTL زليج): earthenware square.
  • zenith (s.m.) (astr.) of samt rear-ra' S (rear RTL سمتالرأس): direction of the head; zenith, opposed to the Nadir
  • Zero (s.m.) of sifr (rear RTL صفر): zero, via Italian zefiro .
  • Zérumbet (s.m.) (club-footed.) of zarubād (rear RTL زرباد): plant close to the ginger.
  • Zinzolin (adj.) (club-footed.) juljulān (rear RTL جلجلان): sesame; color violet obtained with sesame seed.
  • Zob (s.m.) (vulgar) of zubb (rear RTL زبّ) or zubr (rear RTL زبر): penis; rod.
  • Zouave (s.m.) of zawāwīy (rear RTL زواوي): member of a tribe Kabyle which provided the first zouaves; soldier of a body of French infantry of Africa. Berber word of origin: agawa/igawawen.

Words transmitted by the Arab language

  • Baksheesh: Persan baḫšīš (RTL F بخشش) passed with Arabic baqšīš (rear RTL بقشيش) and with Turkish bahşiş : tip; bribe.

  • Caravanserai of Persan the kārwān sarāy (RTL F كاروانسراى): house of caravan.
  • Dinar of dīnār (rear RTL دينار): Latin denarius , sum of money (gold currency).
  • Dirham or dirhem of dirham (rear RTL درهم): dirham; dihrem of the Greek drachma (δραḫμή): drachma (silver money).
  • Couch of Arabic dīwān (rear RTL ديوان): collection of poems, Persan the dīwān (RTL F ديوان): administration; collection of poems.
  • spinach of Arabic isfānāḫ , (rear RTL إسفاناخ): spinach, of Persan the asfināj , (RTL F اسفناج)
  • Waistcoat
  • Jasmine: of yasmin (rear RTL يسمِن)