Test Your Knowledge

posted on: May 21, 2023

By Habeeb Salloum: Arab America Contributing Writer

Arabic Contributions to the English Vocabulary

1.  English has borrowed words from many languages.  According to the Skeats Etymological Dictionary, in the order of borrowing from other languages, the Arabic language comes in:

1. 4^th
2. 7^th
3. 12^th

2. Many Arabic words entered English through other languages.  The Arabic word nā’ib became the English word nabob, but it entered English through:

1. Turkish
2. French
3. Urdu

3. Nārang, a Persian word, entered Arabic then was passed on to English to become orange through:

1. Italian
2. Turkish
3. Spanish

4. Arabic words entered English, in the majority of cases, through:

1. Syria
2. Spain
3. Sicily

5. English is still, at present, borrowing Arabic words.  Which of the following words has English borrowed during the past few decades?

1. admiral
2. falafel
3. tariff

6. The Arabic loan-words are only one aspect of the Arabic impact on English.  In addition, there are numerous English words which are a literal translation of the Arabic.  Sine is the English version of:

1. al-jabr
2. al-khuwārizmī
3. jayb

7. The Persian word kārwān was transmitted through Arabic by way of Sicily into the European languages and became the English word:

1. caravan
2. caraway
3. guitar

8. There are a number of Arab mathematicians who influenced and revolutionized mathematics in Europe.  The greatest of these mathematicians was:

1. Al-Khuwārizmī
2. Jābir ibn Aflaḥ
3. Masluma al-Majrīṭī

Muslin, an English name for a cotton fabric, is derived from the Arabic:

1. mawsim
2. Mawṣil (Mosul)
3. Muslim

9. Coffee, from the Arabic qahwa, entered English:

1. before the 10^th century
2. before the 15^th century
3. after the 15^th century

10. Numerous placenames entered English from Arabic.  Which of he following is derived from Arabic?

1. Hastings
2. Torquay
3. Trafalgar

11. Gibraltar gets its name from which one of these historic figures?

1. Ibn Gibra’īl
2. Ibn Jubayr
3. Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād

12. The English words cipher and zero come from the Arabic:

1. aṣfar
2. ṣafar
3. ṣifr

13. From Damascus, the oldest continually inhabited city in the world, English derives a name for a:

1. fabric
2. sheep
3. star

14. Which of the following animals gets its name from Arabic?

1. zebra
2. giraffe
3. jackal

15. Mocha, an excellent type of coffee, is named after a city in:

1. Saudi Arabia
2. Syria
3. Yemen

16. From the Arabic, al-zahr, we get one of the following English words:

1. azimuth
2. azure
3. hazard

17. Mummy came into English from:

1. Ancient Egyptian
2. Arabic
3. Greek

18. The word, Rubaiyat, which Fitzgerald made famous, originates from:

1. Arabic
2. Persian
3. Urdu

19. The English words mask and mascara are both derived form the Arabic word:

1. maskhara
2. mass
3. mastaba

20. Alhambra, a common name for restaurants and theatres found throughout the English-speaking world, is originally from the Arabic word:

1. ḥammām
2. ḥimār
3. aḥmar

21. Which one of the following languages has an Arabic name?

1. Coptic
2. Somali
3. Swahili

22. The game of chess was introduced into Europe by the Arabs through which of the following areas?

1. Balkans
2. Sicily
3. Spain

23. The words alchemy and chemistry entered English from Arabic but were originally from:

1. Ancient Egyptian
2. Greek
3. Phoenician

24. An old Egyptian city from which the English name for the fabric fustian is derived is:

1. Fawwa
2. Fustat
3. Fayyum

25. Gauze, an English name for a type of fabric, is derived from the name of a city in:

1. Iraq
2. Palestine
3. Syria

26. The English words fanfare and fanfaron are derived from the Arabic word:

1. tharthār
2. farfār
3. firfīr

27. A vegetable brought back to Europe from Palestine during the Crusades and whose name was introduced into the English language at that time is:

1. kohlrabi
2. scallion
3. molokhia

28. Some English personal names originate from Arabic.  Which one of these names is from Arabic?

1. Leila
2. Mona
3. Sheila

29. Many English names for chemicals and minerals are derived from Arabic.  Which of the following is of Arabic origin?

1. antimony
2. azulene
3. zeolite

Answers to Test Your Knowledge

1. (b)

2. (c)

3. (c)  

4. (b)

5. (b)

6. (c)

7. (a)

8. (a)

9. (b)

10. (c)

11. (c)

12. (c)

13. (c)

14. (a)

15. (b)

16. (c)

17. (c)

18. (b)

19. (a)

20. (a)

21. (c)

22. (c)

23. (c)

24. (b)

25. (b)

26. (b)

27. (a)

28. (b)

29. (a)

30. (a)