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Definition of Arab in English:

Arab

noun

  • 1A member of a Semitic people, originally from the Arabian peninsula and neighbouring territories, inhabiting much of the Middle East and North Africa.

    • ‘Henceforth, he insisted that he was Emperor not only of the French but also of the North African Arabs.’
    • ‘Trans-Sahara trade with North Africans and Arabs began to transform these northern societies greatly.’
    • ‘Nearly 300,000 North African Arabs, for example, fought in the ranks of the Free French.’
    • ‘Though some members are Kurds, many are thought to be Arabs from around the Middle East.’
    • ‘In 711 the peninsula was separated dramatically from the rest of Europe by an invasion of Arabs and Berbers from North Africa.’
    • ‘There has been a drop in the number of Asians, Africans and Arabs coming to the US.’
    • ‘Later, with the fall of the empire, it was settled by Germanic Visigoths, then Arabs and Moors.’
    • ‘It's on a par with exporting sand to the Arabs - an Englishman is selling haggis to the Scots.’
    • ‘With the signing of Zidane many French people and Arabs became Real Madrid fans.’
    • ‘Assyrians were in the region long before the British, the Ottomans, the Arabs, and the Kurds.’
    • ‘Residents of Kirkuk are divided in roughly equal parts among three ethnic groups, Arabs, Turkmen, and Kurds.’
    • ‘I visited it with a group called Chefs For Peace, which includes Arabs, Palestinians and Jews.’
    • ‘Also present are Arabs as well as Asians whose ancestors came from India and Pakistan.’
    • ‘They share their classrooms with Arabs, Africans, and Vietnamese.’
    • ‘The history of the Roman Empire figures in this story, but so do the Arabs and the Germans and the Slavs.’

  • 2A horse of a breed originating in Arabia, with a distinctive high-set tail.

    • ‘Arabs tend to be very actively attuned and responsive to their riders, whether or not their riders intend for them to be.’
    • ‘This part Arab was moving out at a canter.’
    • ‘My mare is a small Arab, and even riderless she'll cross-canter a majority of the time.’
    • ‘I happen to own three of the beasts, along with one crazy Arab!’
    • ‘That blob of silver takes away from the arab's beautiful, large, wide-set eyes.’
    • ‘The UK imported Arab horses in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century from Arabia.’
    • ‘Through selective breeding the Bedouins developed an Arab horse which was tough and yet beautiful.’
    • ‘It was these Arab horses that were used as a calvary horse by the Moslems and taken to North Africa and into Spain and France.’
    • ‘Many Arab horses were left behind when the Moslems left and were left to breed with local horses creating such breeds as the Andalusian horse.’
    • ‘Most are Arabs, for centuries bred for toughness and distance.’
    • ‘Oriental Arabs, thoroughbreds and half-bloods were imported and then bred into a plethora of Hungarian breeds.’
    • ‘Finally came a little flea bitten gray mare that looked like an Arab/pony cross.’
    • ‘In her book The Myth of Napoleon's Horse, Jill Hamilton revealed that this horse was just one of many white Arabs in the imperial stables.’
    • ‘The horse was a beautiful palomino, part Arab, golden body, silver mane and tail and eye catching white markings on the legs and face.’
    • ‘Racing changed its complexion as thoroughbreds replaced Arabs.’

adjective

  • Relating to Arabian people.

    ‘Arab countries’
    • ‘But, caught on the continent's horn, it isn't of Africa - it is neither Arab north nor Bantu south.’
    • ‘In other words, seven-eighths of ancient Palestine now makes up Arab states, predominantly Jordan and Syria.’
    • ‘The main markets were in Germany, Austria, Italy, France, the US and Arab countries.’
    • ‘Improvements have occurred in Bangladesh, Pakistan and most Arab States.’
    • ‘Here's a piece about a public health magazine founded last year in Jerusalem and run by Jewish and Arab doctors.’
    • ‘These are only a tiny fraction of the theories given by Arab viewers but, for the sake of brevity, I will not recount them all.’
    • ‘But it wasn't until nearly 300 years later that Arab traders began to boil or roast these precious beans.’
    • ‘It was here that he helped draw together the previously warring Arab tribes into a fighting force capable of attacking the Turkish enemy.’
    • ‘The heart of the book is a trip to Egypt, where the writer attempts to ‘understand Arab culture’.’
    • ‘The ambassador returned to Alexandria's Arab quarter, disguised in a red tarboosh.’
    • ‘Likewise, Arab sailors carried back ship loads of handicrafts from India.’
    • ‘One of the problems has been the shortage of Arab speakers.’
    • ‘In the past, several Arab leaders buttressed the feeling of Arab unity.’
    • ‘Iraq, that legendary bastion of Arab culture and letters, is not represented in Frankfurt, by the way.’

Origin

Via Latin and Greek from Arabic ‘arab.

Pronunciation

Arab

/ˈarəb/