3/19 Moment of Zen: Words from Arabic

A little while ago, I talked with one class or another about some of the math words which come to English from Arabic, namely algebra (from Ar. al-jabr, which refers to putting together broken parts or bonesetting) and algorithm (from the name of Central Asian mathematician Al-Khwarizmi, named for his hometown of Khwarezm, in modern Uzbekistan). I went to one of my favorite websites, Etymonline, an online etymology dictionary to look up a little more on words that have migrated into English from Arabic, and was surprised by some of the words that had their roots in Arabic but also at the number which had come to Arabic from Greek before that the same way a lot of words came to English from Greek through Latin. This shouldn't be too surprising, as much of what we know about Ancient Greece was preserved through records kept by Early Islamic scholars. Fibonacci, of the famous sequence, is actually just as notable as a translator of math and science texts from Arabic as a mathematician in his own right.
Here's some of the surprising words with Arabic roots (all descriptions borrowed from Etymonline):

• chemical/chemistry- originally a variant of alchemical which comes from Arabic al-kimiya, from Gk. khemeioa (found c.300 C.E. in a decree of Diocletian against "the old writings of the Egyptians"), all meaning "alchemy." Perhaps from an old name for Egypt (Khemia, lit. "land of black earth," found in Plutarch), or from Gk. khymatos "that which is poured out," from khein "to pour," related to khymos "juice, sap." The word seems to have elements of both origins.


• orange - from O.Fr. orenge (12c.), from M.L. pomum de orenge, from It. arancia, originally narancia (Venetian naranza), alt. of Arabic naranj, from Pers. narang, from Skt. naranga-s "orange tree," of uncertain origin. Loss of initial n- probably due to confusion with definite article (e.g. une narange, una narancia), but perhaps infl. by Fr. or "gold." The tree's original range probably was northern India. The Persian orange, grown widely in southern Europe after its introduction in Italy 11c., was bitter; sweet oranges were brought to Europe 15c. from India by Portuguese traders and quickly displaced the bitter variety, but only Mod.Gk. still seems to distinguish the bitter (nerantzi) from the sweet (portokali "Portuguese") orange. Portuguese, Spanish, Arab, and Dutch sailors planted citrus trees along trade routes to prevent scurvy. On his second voyage in 1493, Christopher Columbus brought the seeds of oranges, lemons and citrons to Haiti and the Caribbean. Introduced in Florida (along with lemons) in 1513 by Sp. explorer Juan Ponce de Leon. Introduced to Hawaii 1792. Not used as the name of a color until 1542.


• alcohol - "fine powder produced by sublimation," from M.L. alcohol "powdered ore of antimony," from Arabic al-kuhul "kohl," the fine metallic powder used to darken the eyelids, from kahala "to stain, paint." The al- is the Arabic definite article, "the." "Powdered cosmetic" was the earliest sense in English; definition broadened 1670s to "any sublimated substance, the pure spirit of anything." Modern sense of "intoxicating ingredient in strong liquor" is first recorded 1753, short for alcohol of wine, which was extended to "the intoxicating element in fermented liquors." In organic chemistry, the word was extended 1850 to the class of compounds of the same type as this.


• alcove - "vaulted recess," from Fr. alcôve, from Sp. alcoba, from Arabic al-qobbah "the vaulted chamber," from Sem. base q-b-b "to be bent, crooked, vaulted."


• ghoul - from Arabic ghul, an evil spirit that robs graves and feeds on corpses, from ghala "he seized."


• alfalfa - from Sp. alfalfa, earlier alfalfez, from Arabic al-fisfisa "fresh fodder."


• alkaline - "soda ash," from M.L. alkali, from Arabic al-qili "the ashes" (of saltwort, a plant growing in alkaline soils), from qala "to roast in a pan." The modern chemistry sense is from 1813.