Common Words with Arabic Roots

   

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Arabic_origin

 

Given the number of words which have entered English from Arabic, this list is split alphabetically into sublists, as listed below:

• List of English words of Arabic origin (A-B)
• List of English words of Arabic origin (C-F)
• List of English words of Arabic origin (G-J)
• List of English words of Arabic origin (K-M)
• List of English words of Arabic origin (N-S)
• List of English words of Arabic origin (T-Z)
• List of English words of Arabic origin: Addenda for certain specialist vocabularies 

"We may speak thousands of languages, but we all call this planet home. No matter where we come from, protecting our Earth is a shared responsibility. We need more ambitious #ClimateAction — for our planet and the generations to come."

United Nations

@UN

 

We may speak thousands of languages, but we all call this planet home. No matter where we come from, protecting our Earth is a shared responsibility. We need more ambitious #ClimateAction — for our planet and the generations to come. — via @UNDP  

 https://x.com/UN/status/2040399735526195506

UN Development- Working to end poverty, inequality & climate change & advance the #GlobalGoals.  

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‘My poems are part of my flesh’: Palestinian poet Batool Abu Akleen on life in Gaza: At just 20, the poet is one of the most vivid witnesses to the conflict. She talks about dreams of Oxford, the deaths of friends and how tragedy has shaped the person she has become.

‘I’m less timid now’ … Batool Abu Akleen. Photograph: PR -  One of her close friends, the photojournalist Fatma Hassouna, was killed in a strike this spring, a month before the Cannes film festival premiere of a documentary about her life, Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk.

 by Claire Armitstead

Batool Abu Akleen was having lunch in the seaside apartment that has become the latest refuge for her family of seven, when a missile struck a nearby cafe. It was the last day of June, an ordinary Monday in Gaza City. “I was holding a falafel wrap and looking out of the window, and the window shook,” she says. Within an instant, dozens of men, women and children were dead, in an atrocity that was reported around the world. “It doesn’t feel real sometimes,” she adds, with the nonchalance of someone numbed by living with horror.

But this impression is misleading. At just 20 years old, Abu Akleen is becoming one of Gaza’s most vivid and unstinting witnesses, whose debut poetry collection has already won accolades from the novelist Anne Michaels, the playwright Caryl Churchill and the poet Hasib Hourani, among others. She has thrown her whole being into finding a language for the unspeakable, one capable of articulating its surrealism and absurdity as well as its daily tragedies.

In her poems, missiles are fired from Apache helicopters, fleetingly referencing both the US’s role and its history of annihilation... READ MORE    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/oct/05/my-poems-are-part-of-my-flesh-palestinian-poet-batool-abu-akleen-on-life-in-gaza 

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In Growing Gardens for Palestine... The United Nations: International TRANSLATION Day- Translation is more than words; it is a connection. It bridges cultures, carries histories, and gives voice to those unheard. Today, September 30th on Translation Day, we celebrate those who make dialogue possible, the quiet architects of unity in every language.

Growing Gardens for Palestine 

United Nations Geneva

@UNGeneva

Translation is more than words; it is a connection. It bridges cultures, carries histories, and gives voice to those unheard. Today, on #TranslationDay, we celebrate those who make dialogue possible, the quiet architects of unity in every language.

Why 30 September?

30 September celebrates the feast of St. Jerome, the Bible translator, who is considered the patron saint of translators.

St. Jerome was a priest from North-eastern Italy, who is known mostly for his endeavor of translating most of the Bible into Latin from the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. He also translated parts of the Hebrew Gospel into Greek. He was of Illyrian ancestry and his native tongue was the Illyrian dialect. He learned Latin in school and was fluent in Greek and Hebrew, which he picked up from his studies and travels. Jerome died near Bethlehem on 30 September 420.

https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-translation-day 

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The role of language professionals

International Translation Day is meant as an opportunity to pay tribute to the work of language professionals, which plays an important role in bringing nations together, facilitating dialogue, understanding and cooperation, contributing to development and strengthening world peace and security.

Transposition of a literary or scientific work, including technical work, from one language into another language, professional translation, including translation proper, interpretation and terminology, is indispensable to preserving clarity, a positive climate and productiveness in international public discourse and interpersonal communication.

Thus, on 24 May 2017, the General Assembly adopted resolution 71/288 on the role of language professionals in connecting nations and fostering peace, understanding and development, and declared 30 September as International Translation Day.

Multilingualism, a core value of the United Nations

Languages, with their complex implications for identity, communication, social integration, education and development, are of strategic importance for people and the planet.

There is growing awareness that languages play a vital role in development, in ensuring cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue, but also in attaining quality education for all and strengthening cooperation, in building inclusive knowledge societies and preserving cultural heritage, and in mobilizing political will for applying the benefits of science and technology to sustainable development.

An essential factor in harmonious communication among peoples, multilingualism is also regarded by the United Nations General Assembly as a core value of the Organization. By promoting tolerance, multilingualism ensures effective and increased participation of all in the Organization’s work, as well as greater effectiveness, better performance and improved transparency.

Translation at the UN

The United Nations is one of the world's largest employers of language professionals. Several hundred language staff work in UN offices in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi, or at the United Nations regional commissions in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva and Santiago. Translators are one type of language professionals employed at the UN.

UN language specialists include:

• Editorial and desktop publishing assistants;
• Editors;
• Interpreters;
• Précis-writers;
• Production editors and desktop publishers;
• Translators;
• Verbatim reporters

United Nations translators handle all kinds of documents, from statements by Member States to reports prepared by expert bodies. The documents they translate cover every topic on the United Nations agenda, including human rights, peace and security, and development. New issues arise every day. UN documents are issued simultaneously in the six official languages of the Organization (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). Some core documents are also translated into German. This multilingual documentation is made possible by United Nations translators, whose job is to render clearly and accurately the content of original texts into their main language.

Interested in working as a language specialist at the United Nations? Please check UN Careers on Competitive examinations for language professionals.

Did you know?

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights holds the Guinness World Record as the most translated document. It exists in more than 500 languages.
• The United Nations is one of the world's largest employers of language professionals.
• There are six official languages of the UN - Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
• A delegate may speak in any official UN language. The speech is interpreted simultaneously into the other official languages of the UN.

TRANSLATION: From one world to another

What does it really mean to translate? Translation is often the essential prerequisite for accessing a universal, multiple, diverse culture. In this issue of the UNESCO Courier, explore what this really entails.

Related Observances

• 21 February - International Mother Language Day
• 20 March - French Language Day at the UN
• 20 April - Chinese Language Day at the UN
• 23 April - English Language Day at the UN 
• 23 April - Spanish Language Day at the UN 
• 5 May - World Portuguese Language Day
• 6 June - Russian Language Day at the UN 
• 7 July - World Kiswahili Language Day
• 18 December - Arabic Language Day at the UN 
• 2022-2032 - International Decade of Indigenous Languages

Why do we mark International Days?

International days and weeks are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. We also mark other UN observances.

 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights... Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages

"And yet we watched as those subtle, innocent, beautiful nuances of our tongue were twisted into indicators of suspicion. In an American discourse so heavily imbued with anti-Palestinian racism and so rife with Islamophobia, Palestinians or those who dare see them as human are not allowed to have legitimate intentions or legitimate grievances. They are to be constantly seen as suspicious. Even if they speak of human rights, equality, dignity, they can never really be trusted to mean those things because of who they are — sneaky shapeshifters with deeply held, murderous, ulterior motives. It is quite remarkable how much this echoes antisemitism throughout history, and that should surprise no one. All forms of racism are connected" Yousef Munayyer

 ... An Era of Being Exogenously Defined 

On a nightly basis after September 11, 2001, so-called terrorism experts who knew next to nothing about the language, religion, or cultures of the region would appear on news broadcasts — indoctrinating our friends, neighbors, classmates, and coworkers to treat our language as suspicious.

We watched as those subtle and innocent nuances of our tongue were twisted into indicators of suspicion.

I remember hearing an Arab-American elder once explain to a curious neighbor, “In Arabic, God is in every conversation.” At the time, I thought it was a bit overdramatic. It is undoubtedly true that it is hard to imagine an Arabic conversation where Allah is not uttered. Whether in our bismillahs, alhamdulillahs, mashallahs or inshallahs or our yallahs or wallahs, God makes routine appearances. But these are not necessarily religious conversations at all. Even the non-religious use these terms; it is just the nature of how we communicate in our language due to its historic ties to faith. It is also one of the many things that makes the Arabic language beautiful.

And yet we watched as those subtle, innocent, beautiful nuances of our tongue were twisted into indicators of suspicion. In an American discourse so heavily imbued with anti-Palestinian racism and so rife with Islamophobia, Palestinians or those who dare see them as human are not allowed to have legitimate intentions or legitimate grievances. They are to be constantly seen as suspicious. Even if they speak of human rights, equality, dignity, they can never really be trusted to mean those things because of who they are — sneaky shapeshifters with deeply held, murderous, ulterior motives. It is quite remarkable how much this echoes antisemitism throughout history, and that should surprise no one. All forms of racism are connected.

A Shoe on the Other Foot

Imagine for a minute subjecting words or phrases in a different language, or about a different people, to the same unfair treatment. Consider the Hebrew phrase Am Yisrael Chai. The literal meaning of the phrase is “the people of Israel live,” and there are plenty of instances where the use of this phrase is mundane. However, the phrase is routinely chanted by murderous Israeli settlers as they engage in mob violence against Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. Recently, it has been shouted by Israeli soldiers as they commit heinous war crimes in Gaza and shared widely and proudly by those same soldiers on social media. Thus, one could argue that Am Yisrael Chai is a genocidal slogan and must be banned, and that all those who use it or have used it must be criminalized and viewed with deep suspicion.

Surely, this is absurd. And yet this is the absurdity Palestinians and those who support their freedom are constantly subjected to. Still, too many cannot see the glaring double standard... READ MORE

https://theintercept.com/2025/07/10/mamdani-globalize-intifada-democrats/

Zohran Mamdani Shows Democrats How Not to Take the Bait

By refusing to capitulate on "globalize the intifada," Mamdani rejected a long tradition of demonizing Arabic language.

by 

Yousef Munayyer

July 10 2025

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ENGLISH - poem by Khawla in Grief

Dr Khawla Badwan

@KhawlaBadwan

It was never about English #KeepTellingofGaza #GazaGenocide

"Forest of Noise": Palestinian Poet Mosab Abu Toha on New Book, Relatives Killed in Gaza & More...

https://youtu.be/K7rlZZ6mz8M?si=Y2OrKeYRizeVrm_O

In an extended interview, Palestinian poet and author Mosab Abu Toha discusses the situation in Gaza and his new book of poetry titled _Forest of Noise_. He fled Gaza in December after being detained by the Israeli military, but many of his extended family members were unable to escape. He reads a selection of poems from _Forest of Noise_, while sharing the stories of friends and family still struggling to survive in Gaza, as well as those he has lost, including the late poet Refaat Alareer. He also describes his experiences in Gaza in the first months of the war, including being displaced from his home and abducted by the Israeli military, noting that the neighborhood in Jabaliya refugee camp that his family first evacuated to last year was bombed by the Israeli military just days ago. "Sometimes I want to stop writing because I'm repeating the same words, even though the situation is worse. The language is helpless," Abu Toha says. "Why does the world make us feel helpless?"   

Susan Muaddi Darraj: Palestinian Americans learned from the best... "I, Too" poem by Langton Hughes [written in 1926]

Susan Muaddi Darraj

Palestinian Americans learned from the best.

In Israel's war against the Palestinians, Tel Aviv controls the narrative and silences dissenting voices

 October 16, 2023

 COUNTERPUNCH

Framing the Language of Carnage in Palestine: Advantage Israel

  by M. Reza Behnam

Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

 

 

 

".... Israel has firmly embedded the myth that it is a democratic, brave, vulnerable nation into the body politic of the United States.  In their current war against the Palestinians, Tel Aviv has made sure to control the narrative and to silence dissenting voices.  With the corporate media, they have established who matters, Israel, and who does not, the Palestinians.

The first casualties of the disinformation campaign have been the use of the words “war” and “conflict.” Oxford English Dictionary defines war as “a state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state.”  Conflict is defined (dictionary.com) as a “struggle or clash between opposing forces.”

It is a distortion to say that what we have witnessed in Palestine is a war or a conflict.  Both words imply a battle or struggle between equals or near equals, between two peoples with equal resources and claims.

As Israel conducts its aggression against the Palestinians in Gaza, the media continues to improperly frame the killing of the colonized by the Israeli colonizer as a war and/or conflict.  CNN, MSNBC and National Public Radio, for example, have been using the promo, “Israel at War,” to entice viewers and listeners.

Tel Aviv has declared war on a political party, Hamas.  The Gaza Strip—about the size of New Jersey— home to 2.3 million Palestinians, is not a nation or a state.  It has been under Israeli military occupation and blockade and can best be described as an open-air prison...." READ MORE

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UNESCO: The First World Arabic Language Day 18 December 2012

UNESCO celebrates first Arabic Language Day              (Photo courtesy UNESCO)

In 1948, the 3rd General Conference of UNESCO held in Beirut (Lebanon), declared that Arabic, in addition to English and French, will become the third working language of the governing bodies meeting in an Arabic-speaking country. More on the history of the Arabic language at UNESCO

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/world-arabic-language-day/

 Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the first World Arabic Language Day 18 December 2012

"Languages contribute to the beauty of the world because each one enriches that which it names. Our languages are not only tools of communication, they carry values and identities. Linguistic diversity broadens the mind and provides the means to build intercultural and interreligious dialogue based on genuine mutual understanding

 

World Arabic Language Day is an opportunity for us to celebrate the language of 22 Member States of UNESCO, a language with more than 422 million speakers in the Arab world and used by more than 1.5 billion Muslims. 

By celebrating the Arabic language, we are also acknowledging the tremendous contribution of its writers, scientists and artists to universal culture. These are the Arabic language authors who enabled the transmission of Greek knowledge to the Latin of medieval Europe, weaving indissoluble ties between cultures through time. The works of Averroës, Ibn Khaldun and Naguib Mahfouz are among the most profound of the human spirit and it is in Arabic that they deliver their full power. This love and fascination for the language – expressed for example in calligraphy and poetry, so dear to the Arab culture – is a crucible from which the greatest cultures have emerged.

In the face of transformations that are challenging the world and the emergence of plural societies, every language provides a key to living together better, to building solidarity and to helping each other to be heard. Multilingualism is a force for the rapprochement of peoples and cultures. The more cultures come together, the more it is in the interest of individuals – especially young people – to master several languages and learn about the works and values that they convey, in order to broaden the horizons for dialogue and cooperation. This is the spirit of the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and the programmes carried out under the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. 

On 18 December 1973, the United Nations General Assembly included Arabic among its official and working languages. Nearly 40 years later, we are celebrating the power of the Arabic language to bring us together around shared values, to give strength to our ideas and depth to our ambitions, for peace and sustainable development."