Arabic influence on the Spanish language overwhelmingly dates from the Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula between 711 and 1492. The influence results mainly from the large number of

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

loanwords and derivations in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, plus a few other less obvious effects.

History

The

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

, also called ''Castilian'', is a

Romance language The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European languages, I ...

that evolved from the dialects of Roman

Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve ...

spoken in the Iberian peninsula. The first documents written in a language with some features specific of modern Spanish are ascribed to a number of documents from different monasteries in the area of

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

and

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and N� ...

in what is now northern Spain. However, Toledo in central Spain, which became the capital of the early

Kingdom of Castile The Kingdom of Castile (; es, Reino de Castilla, la, Regnum Castellae) was a large and powerful state on the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region. It began in the 9th centu ...

during its southward expansion, is where Spanish began to appear in a written form recognizable today. The pre-existing

Mozarabic Mozarabic, also called Andalusi Romance, refers to the medieval Romance varieties spoken in the Iberian Peninsula in territories controlled by the Islamic Emirate of Córdoba and its successors. They were the common tongue for the majority of ...

dialect of this region (i.e. the Romance present during Muslim rule) is therefore likely to have also had an influence on modern Spanish. The lexical influence of

reached its greatest level during the Christian

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

, when the emerging

conquered large territories from

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

rulers particularly in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. These territories, which included the former

Taifa of Toledo The Taifa of Toledo () was an islamic polity (''taifa'') located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula in the high middle ages. It was ruled by the Dhulnunids, a Hawwara Berber clan. It emerged after 1018 upon the fracturing of the Caliphate of C ...

, had large numbers of Arabic speakers, as well as many who spoke local Romance dialects (

Mozarabic language Mozarabic, also called Andalusi Romance, refers to the medieval Romance varieties spoken in the Iberian Peninsula in territories controlled by the Islamic Emirate of Córdoba and its successors. They were the common tongue for the majority of ...

) that were heavily influenced by Arabic, both influencing Castilian. It is possible that Arabic words and their derivatives had also been priorly brought into Castilian by

Mozarab The Mozarabs ( es, mozárabes ; pt, moçárabes ; ca, mossàrabs ; from ar, مستعرب, musta‘rab, lit=Arabized) is a modern historical term for the Iberian Christians, including Christianized Iberian Jews, who lived under Muslim rule in A ...

Christians who emigrated northwards from

Al Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...

in times of

sectarian violence Sectarian violence and/or sectarian strife is a form of communal violence which is inspired by sectarianism, that is, discrimination, hatred or prejudice between different sects of a particular mode of an ideology or different sects of a religion ...

, particularly during the times of

Almohad The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the Tawhid, unity of God) was a North African Berbers, Berber M ...

and

Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...

rule in the 12th and 13th centuries. As such, Arabic can be considered to have had a formative influence on the Spanish language. The degree to which the Arabic language percolated through the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

varied enormously from one period and area to another and is the subject of academic debate. However, it is generally agreed that, in much of the peninsula, Arabic was used among the local elites, Muslims and Christians, and that the prevalent vernacular in many areas was

, a continuum of Arabic-influenced local Romance dialects. Only the southern third of the peninsula became totally Arabized as both Mozarabic and Christianity were extinguished following the Almoravid and Almohad periods. Much of the Arabic influence upon Spanish came through the various

Arabized Arabization or Arabisation ( ar, تعريب, ') describes both the process of growing Arab influence on non-Arab populations, causing a language shift by the latter's gradual adoption of the Arabic language and incorporation of Arab culture, aft ...

Romance dialects that were spoken in areas under Moorish rule, known today by scholars as

. This resulted in Spanish often having both Arabic and Latin derived words with the same meaning. For example, ''aceituna'' and ''oliva'' (olive), ''alacrán'' and ''escorpión'' (scorpion), ''jaqueca'' and ''migraña'' (migraine), ''alcancía'' and ''hucha'' (piggy bank), ''ajonjolí'' and ''sésamo'' (sesame) etc. The influence of the Arabized Mozarabic and of Arabic itself is more noticeable in the Spanish dialects from regions with a longer history of Moorish domination than those where it was shorter-lived. For this reason, the dialects of the southern half of the country, known collectively as ''castellano meridional'' or Southern Castilian, seem collectively to show a higher degree of preference for Arabisms. Northern Spanish dialects tend to prefer Romance synonyms to terms of Arabic origin, such as the Romance ''calendario'' vs. Arabic ''almanaque'', ''hucha'' vs. ''alcancía'', ''espliego'' vs. ''alhucema'', etc. Because Canarian and all Hispanic American

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

s are mainly derived from Southern Castilian, Spanish words of Arabic origin are common in most

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

of Modern Spanish. A number of words were also borrowed from

Moroccan Arabic Moroccan Arabic ( ar, العربية المغربية الدارجة, translit=al-ʻArabīya al-Maghribīya ad-Dārija ), also known as Darija (), is the dialectal, vernacular form or forms of Arabic spoken in Morocco. It is part of the Maghrebi ...

principally as a result of Spain's protectorate over

Spanish Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

in the 19th and 20th centuries, although these are of minor significance. The Spanish spoken in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

has also adopted a small number of words from

Hassaniya Arabic Hassānīya ( ar, حسانية '; also known as , , , , and ''Maure'') is a variety of Maghrebi Arabic spoken by Mauritanian Arabs and the Sahrawi. It was spoken by the Beni Ḥassān Bedouin tribes, who extended their authority over most of M ...

, principally from Canarian sailors who fish in proximity to the Saharan coast as well as by those Canarians who returned from Western Sahara after the

Green March The Green March was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government, to force Spain to hand over the disputed, autonomous semi-metropolitan province of Spanish Sahara to Morocco. At that time, the Spani ...

of 1975.

Lexical influence

The influence of

on the Spanish language is fundamentally lexical but its other influences are also briefly examined in this article. It is estimated that there are about one thousand Arabic

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

s, and approximately three thousand derived words, for a total of around four thousand words or 8% of the Spanish dictionary. See

Influences on the Spanish language Spanish is a Romance language which developed from Vulgar Latin in central areas of the Iberian peninsula and has absorbed many loanwords from other Romance languages like French, Occitan, Catalan, Portuguese, and Italian. Spanish also has lexic ...

for more on how the number of Arabisms in Spanish has been estimated. The exact number of words of Arabic origin and their derivatives in Spanish is not known, and many words not included on this list are regionalisms: words that are used in certain parts of Spain and/or Hispanic America but are generally unknown elsewhere. The high point of Arabic word use in Spanish was in late medieval times and has declined since then, but hundreds are still used in normal conversation. A larger majority of these words are nouns, with a number of

verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...

s and

adjective In linguistics, an adjective (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that generally grammatical modifier, modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Tra ...

s derived directly from these nouns, e.g. ''alquilar'' (to rent) and ''alquilado'' (rented) from ''alquiler'' (rent), most of which are excluded from this list. There is also one

preposition Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...

: ''hasta'' ("until"), and one

adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...

: ''he''. There has been little influence on the basic grammatical structure of the language. Many Arabic loanwords in Spanish start with ''a-'' or ''al-'', where these sounds come from the Arabic

article Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article may also refer to: G ...

''al-'' (giving just ''a-'' when the Arabic word begins with a solar letter). This initial ''a(l)-'' is an integral part of the word in Spanish, that is, it's not a

morpheme A morpheme is the smallest meaningful Constituent (linguistics), constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistics, linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology (linguistics), morphology. In English, morphemes are ...

List of words of Arabic origin

This is an open list of Spanish words acquired ''directly'' from Classical and

Andalusi Arabic Andalusi Arabic (), also known as Andalusian Arabic, was a variety or varieties of Arabic spoken mainly from the 9th to the 17th century in Al-Andalus, the regions of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) once under Muslim rule. It b ...

, listed in alphabetical order. This list includes the Spanish meaning of the word as well as the Arabic

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

. No fixed standard of

Arabic transliteration The romanization of Arabic is the systematic rendering of written and spoken Arabic in the Latin script. Romanized Arabic is used for various purposes, among them transcription of names and titles, cataloging Arabic language works, language ed ...

is used. Rationale for inclusion ''Due to the large influence of Arabic on Spanish vocabulary, this list is relatively restrictive:'' *This list has been edited to include only words which are considered to appertain to the Spanish language and the

Hispanic culture The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties former ...

and society. Arabic words which may be understood by Spanish speakers, but remain foreign to the Hispanic civilisation such as Ayatolá, Yihad, or Chiita, are excluded from this list. *Only words which have passed directly from Arabic are included. Arabic words which entered the Spanish language through other, non- Iberian,

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

(such as '' Ayatolá'', ''Beduino'', ''Sofá'', or ''sorbete'') are not included. Included as exceptions to this rule are ''álcali'' and ''álgebra'', words of Arabic origin which are thought to have entered Spanish through "

Low Latin Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in ...

"—as suggested by their initial stress (the Arabic definite article ''al-'' is not normally borrowed as a stressed syllable). *Generally, only Spanish root words are listed, derivations (including nouns, verbs or adjectives) not being included. For example, ''aceite'' (from ''az-zeit'', oil) is included but not ''aceitería'', ''aceitero'', ''aceitón'' or ''aceitoso''. On the other hand, ''aceituna'' (

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

) is included since it derives not from ''az-zeit'' but from ''az-zeituna'' in Arabic, even though the root of the ''Arabic'' word is the same. ''Aceituno'' (olive tree), on the other hand, would not be included, since it shares the same root as ''aceituna''. For this reason a significant number of verbs and adjectives are excluded from this list. An exception to this rule may be made when the derived word is much more commonly used than the

root word A root (or root word) is the core of a word that is irreducible into more meaningful elements. In morphology, a root is a morphologically simple unit which can be left bare or to which a prefix or a suffix can attach. The root word is the prima ...

, when the meaning of the derivative has no evident connection with the root word or when it is not clear that one is derived from the other (e.g. horro and ahorrar). *Words derived from

are not included (Mozarabic being fundamentally a

), unless the Mozarabic word is itself derived from classical or Andalusi Arabic. *Words acquired from Berber or

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

(or other

Afro-Asiatic languages The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...

) are not included. The etymology and meaning of most of these words can be verified on the site of th
Real Academia de la Lengua Española
although a small minority are only available in other sources or past editions of this dictionary. Many of these words will be unfamiliar to many Spanish speakers because their use is restricted to certain regions of Spain or Spanish-speaking countries or they are no longer in regular use. For example, the word for Arabic-derived word for "jewel" alhaja is very common in Mexico whereas in Spain it is restricted to rural areas of the southern half of the country, the alternative Spanish term joya being much more common. On the other hand the Arabic derived term for fruit juice zumo is the standard term in Spain whereas in Hispanic America the Latin-derived jugo or agua are generally used. The Arabic term alberca in Spain refers to agricultural water deposits, whereas in Mexico it is the common term used for swimming pool as opposed to piscina elsewhere or pileta in Argentina.

A (Ababol to Azumbre)

#ababol:

poppy A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, ''Papaver somniferum'', is the source of the narcotic drug opi ...

, in

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

Albacete Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-ea ...

and

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

. From Andalusian Arabic ''Happapáwr'', a fusion from the Arabic plural ''al-ḥabūb'' (الْحَبُوب), the generic term for "seeds, beans or grains", and the Latin ''papāver''. #abacero: owner of an abacería, small food shop. From Andalusi Arabic ''*ṣaḥb uz-zād'' () "owner of supplies." #abadí: descendant/lineage of ''Mohammed ben Abad'', founder of the Taifa Kingdom of Seville in the 11th century AD. From Andalusi Arabic '' 'abbādī'' (عبّادي). #abalorio: cheap jewellery or jewellery beads. From Andalusi Arabic and Arabic ''al-ballūriy ' (الْبَلُّورِيُِّ) " ade of/ likeglass or clear as crystal". Ultimately from Greek , "beryl" #abarraz: stavesacre (''

Delphinium staphisagria ''Staphisagria macrosperma'', formerly known as ''Delphinium staphisagria'', is a species of '' Staphisagria'' of the family Ranunculaceae. It used to belong to the subgenus or section ''Staphisagria'' of the genus ''Delphinium'', but molecular e ...

''), a medicinal plant. From Andalusian Arabic ''ḥább arrás'' () "head seeds." #abasí: pertaining to the

Abbasid dynasty The Abbasid dynasty or Abbasids ( ar, بنو العباس, Banu al-ʿAbbās) were an Arab dynasty that ruled the Abbasid Caliphate between 750 and 1258. They were from the Qurayshi Hashimid clan of Banu Abbas, descended from Abbas ibn Abd al-M ...

, which overthrew the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...

s in the 8th century. #abelmosco: musk seeds, an aromatic plant. From Andalusi Arabic ''ḥabb al musk'' () literally "musk seeds." Classical Arabic ''ḥabbu 'l musk''. #abencerraje: used in expression: "''Zegríes y abencerrajes''", "partisans of opposite interests". The ''Abencerrajes'' (in Arabic ''aban as-sarráǧ'') was an Arabic family of the

Kingdom of Granada ) , common_languages = Official language:Classical ArabicOther languages: Andalusi Arabic, Mozarabic, Berber, Ladino , capital = Granada , religion = Majority religion:Sunni IslamMinority religions:Roman C ...

, rivals of the Zegríes in the 15th century. #abenuz:

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus ''Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when pol ...

. From Arabic ''abanūs'' (أَبَنُوس) of the same meaning but in Arabic referring to the "black wood" of the tropical tree. #abismal: screw in head of a spear. From Arabic ''al-mismar'' (الْمِسْمَر) "nail." #abitaque: a cut of wood used in construction of a certain shape and dimension. From Arabic ''aṭ-ṭabaqah'' (الطَّبَقَة) "layer" or "intermediate chamber" or "group, standard, type". #acebibe: raisin. From Arabic ''az-zabīb'' (الزَّبِيب) of the same meaning but also "dried grape" or "currant" _''Ribes'',_genus_of_berry_plants,_e.g._blackcurrant,_redcurrant_and_white_currant.html" ;"title="Ribes.html" ;"title=" ''

_''Ribes'',_genus_of_berry_plants,_e.g._blackcurrant,_redcurrant_and_white_currant">Ribes.html"_;"title="_''Ribes">_''Ribes'',_genus_of_berry_plants,_e.g._blackcurrant,_redcurrant_and_white_currant #acebuche:_wild_olive_tree,_or_wood_from_such_a_tree._From_Andalusi_Arabic_''azzabbúǧ''. #aceche:_Copper(II)_sulfate">copper_ Copper_is_a__chemical_element_with_the__symbol_Cu_(from__la,_cuprum)_and__atomic_number_29._It_is_a_soft,_malleable,_and_ductile_metal_with_very_high_thermal_and__electrical_conductivity._A_freshly_exposed_surface_of_pure_copper_has_a__pinkis_...

,_Iron(II)_sulfate">iron_ Iron_()_is_a__chemical_element_with__symbol_Fe_(from__la,__ferrum)_and_atomic_number_26._It_is_a_metal_that_belongs_to_the__first_transition_series_and_group_8_of_the__periodic_table._It_is,__by_mass,_the_most_common_element_on_Earth,_right_in_f_...

_or_Zinc_sulfate.html" "title="Iron(II)_sulfate.html" "title="Copper(II)_sulfate.html" "title="Ribes"> ''Ribes'', genus of berry plants, e.g. blackcurrant, redcurrant and white currant">Ribes.html" ;"title=" ''Ribes"> ''Ribes'', genus of berry plants, e.g. blackcurrant, redcurrant and white currant #acebuche: wild olive tree, or wood from such a tree. From Andalusi Arabic ''azzabbúǧ''. #aceche: Copper(II) sulfate">copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

History

Lexical influence

List of words of Arabic origin

A (Ababol to Azumbre)

B

C

D, E

F, G

H, I

J, K

L, M

N, O, P, Q

R, S, T

V, X, Y, Z

Words with a coincidental similarity to Arabic and false arabisms

Other influences

The suffix í

Expressions

Idafa

Toponyms (place names) in Spain of Arabic origin

Major towns, cities and regions

Geographical features

Given names and surnames

Given names

Surnames

See also

References

Selected reference works and other academic literature

Selected resource pages of universities and research institutes

External links