List of Arabic Loanwords in English - N-Q

N-Q

nadir

نظير naẓīr, the point of the sky opposite the zenith. Crossref zenith in this list. Naẓīr literally means the complement or counterpart. "The Arabic 'z' here used is the 17th letter of the Arabic alphabet, an unusual letter with a difficult sound, which came to be rendered by 'd' in Low Latin." 13th-century Latin.

natron, natrium, kalium

The ancient Greeks had the word nitron with the meaning of naturally-occurring sodium carbonate and similar salts. The medieval Arabs adopted this word, spelled نطرون natrūn, and used it with that meaning. The modern word natron, meaning hydrated sodium carbonate, is descended from the Arabic. In Europe shortly after sodium was isolated as an element for the first time, in the early 19th century, sodium was given the scientific abbreviation Na from a created Latin name, initially natronium then natrium, which goes back etymologically to the Arabic natrūn (and then to the Greek nitron). Also in the early 19th century, elemental potassium was isolated for the first time and was soon afterwards given the scientific abbreviation K representing a created Latin name Kalium, which was derived from new Latin Kali meaning potassium carbonate, which goes back etymologically to medieval Arabic al-qali, which for the Arabs could mean both potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate. Crossref alkali on this page.

orange

نارنج nāranj, orange. Arabic descends from Sanskritic nāraṅga = "orange". The orange tree came from India. The Arabs introduced the orange tree to the Mediterranean region in the early 10th century. The word is in all the Mediterranean Latin languages from the later medieval centuries.

popinjay (parrot)

ببغاء babaghā', parrot. The change of Arabic 'b' to English 'p' also occurs in the loanwords Apricot, Calipers, Julep, Jumper, Serendipity, Spinach, and Syrup. French gai = "jay (bird)". The French papegai = "parrot" has a late-12th-century start date. The English dates from one century later.