List of Arabic Loanwords in English - H-I-J

H-I-J

haboob (type of sandstorm)

هبوب habūb, gale wind. The English means a dense, short-lived, desert sandstorm created by an air downburst. Year 1897 first known use in English.

harem

حريم harīm, women's quarters in a large household. The Arabic root-word means "forbidden" and thus the word had a connotation of a place where men were forbidden. (Crossref Persian and Urdu Zenana for semantics.) 17th-century English entered English through Turkish, where the meaning was closer to what the English is. In Arabic today harīm means womenkind in general.

hashish

حشيش hashīsh, hashish. Hashīsh has the literal meaning "dried herb" and "grass" in Arabic. Its earliest record as a nickname for cannabis is in 12th- or 13th-century Arabic. In English in a traveller's report in 1598 it is found in the form "assis". But the word is rare in English until the 19th century and the wordform in English today dates from the 19th century.

henna, alkanet, alkannin, Alkanna

الحنّاء al-hinnā, henna. Henna is a reddish natural dye made from the leaves of Lawsonia inermis. The English dates from about 1600 and came directly from Arabic through English-language travellers reports from the Middle East. . Alkanet dye is a reddish natural dye made from the roots of Alkanna tinctoria and this word is 14th-century English from Spanish alcaneta | alcana, and medieval Latin alchanna, from al-hinnā.

hookah (water pipe for smoking)

حقّة huqqa, pot or jar. The word arrived in English from India. The Indian word is ultimately from Arabic. More information at hookah article.

hummus (food recipe)

حمّص himmas, chickpea(s). Chickpeas were called himmas in medieval Arabic and were a frequently eaten food item. In Syria and Lebanon in the 19th century the word was commonly pronounced hommos. It was borrowed into Turkish as humus, and entered English from Turkish in mid-20th century. The Turkish and English hummus means mashed chickpeas mixed with tahini and certain flavourings. In Arabic that is called himmas bil tahina. All evidence points to the origin of the recipe in Syria and Lebanon (see hummus). See also Addendum for Middle Eastern cuisine words below.

ifrit (mythology)

عفريت ʿifrīt, an ancient demon popularized by the 1001 Arabian Nights tales.

jar (food or drink container)

جرّة jarra, an earthenware jar, an upright container made of pottery. First records in English are in 1418 and 1421 as a container for olive oil. Spanish jarra has 13th-century records. Arabic jarra is commonplace centuries earlier. In the medieval Arabic and Spanish, and also in the word's early centuries of use in English, the typical jar was considerably bigger than the typical jar in English today.

jasmine, jessamine, jasmone

ياسمين yās(a)mīn, jasmine. The Arabic was from Persian. In medieval Arabic jasmine was well-known. In the West, the word was rare until the 16th century and the same generally goes for the plant itself (Jasminum officinale and its relatives). An early record in the West is dated around 1240 and came from southern Italy in an Arabic-to-Latin book translation that mentions flower-oil extracted from jasmine flowers.

jinn (mythology)

الجنّ al-jinn, the jinn. The roles of jinns and ghouls in Arabic folklore are discussed by (e.g.) Al-Masudi (died 956). (The semantically related English genie is not derived from jinn, though it has been influenced by it through the 1001 Nights tales).

julep (type of drink)

جلاب julāb, a syrupy drink. Arabic is from Persian gulab = "rose water". In its early use in English it was a syrupy drink. Like the words candy, sugar, and syrup, "julep" arrived in English in late medieval times in association with imports of cane sugar from Arabic-speaking lands.

jumper (dress or pullover sweater)

جبّة jubba, a loose outer garment. The word is in 11th-century Italian Latin as jupa = "a jacket of oriental origin". Mid-12th-century Latin juppum and late-12th-century French jupe meant "jacket". So did the English 14th-century ioupe | joupe, 15th-century iowpe | jowpe, 17th-century jup, juppe, and jump, 18th jupo and jump, 19th jump and jumper.