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arabic

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

The Semitic language of the Arabs.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

aruhbik

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈæɹəbɪk

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The Semitic language of the Arabs; spoken in a variety of dialects

  2. A major Semitic language originating from the Arabian peninsula, and now spoken natively (in various spoken dialects, all sharing a single highly conservative standardized literary form) throughout large sections of the Middle East and North Africa.

  3. A variety of the Arabic language.

  4. The Aramaic-derived script used to write the Arabic, Persian, Pashto, Urdu, and Uyghur languages, among others.

  5. A number represented using an Indian and Arabic system involving the symbols 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 0, representing digits.

  6. proscribed

    An Arab.

adjective

  1. Of, from, or pertaining to Arab countries or cultural behaviour.

  2. proscribedof people

    Arab.

  3. of numerals

    Expressed in a script that was developed in Arab lands (but is not always used in the Arabic language): 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

  4. Related to the Arabic language.

  5. Only used in arabic acid

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The Semitic language of the Arabs; spoken in a variety of dialects

Used this way, arabic is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use arabic

  • “She is learning to speak and write Arabic for her new job.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Semitic / major

arabic wordclassical arabicmodern arabicspeak arabic

Other combinations

arabic textarabic namearabic poetryarabic version

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • arabesquenounDerived noun

    Position in which the dancer has one leg raised behind and arms outstretched in a conventional pose.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • arabic alphabetnounCompound term

    The alphabet of 28 characters derived from Aramaic and used for writing Arabic languages (and borrowed for writing Urdu).

  • arabic languagenounCompound term

    The Semitic language of the Arabs.

  • arabic numeralnounCompound term

    One of the symbols 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0.

  • gum arabicnounCompound term

    Gum from an acacia tree.

  • hindu-arabic numeralnounCompound term

    One of the symbols 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • arabnounRelated term

    A member of a Semitic people originally from the Arabian peninsula and surrounding territories who speaks Arabic and who inhabits much of the Middle East and northern Africa.

  • arabiannounRelated term

    A member of a Semitic people originally from the Arabian peninsula and surrounding territories who speaks Arabic and who inhabits much of the Middle East and northern Africa.

  • arabian nightsnounRelated term

    A collection of folktales in Arabic dating from the 10th century.

  • A collection of folktales in Arabic dating from the 10th century.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: semitic language of the Arabs

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.