Meaning & use
Arab
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person who comes from the Arab world or whose family originally comes from there.
Grammar: Countable: one Arab, two Arabs. It is used as a neutral word for a person.
Patterns
- an Arab
- Arabs
- Arab people
My neighbor is an Arab from Lebanon.
Many Arabs live in the Gulf countries.
She is proud of her Arab heritage.
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to the Arab world, its people, or its culture.
Grammar: Used before a noun: Arab culture, Arab countries. It is not usually used after a verb.
Patterns
- Arab culture
- Arab world
- Arab countries
Arab music has a long and rich history.
He studies Arab literature at university.
The Arab world includes many different countries.
Word forms
| plural | Arabs |
|---|
Common combinations
- Arab world
- The Arab world stretches from Morocco to Iraq.
- Arab culture
- She is interested in Arab culture and history.
- Arab countries
- Many Arab countries have fast-growing cities.
- Arab Spring
- The Arab Spring began in 2010 with protests in Tunisia.
Synonyms and how they differ
- Arabic
- This usually refers to the language or to things like script and coffee, not to a person; use 'Arab' for a person from the Arab world.
Word family
- Arabic noun
- The language spoken in many Arab countries.
- Arabic adjective
- Relating to the Arabic language or its script, as in 'Arabic numerals'.
- Arabize verb
- To make something Arab in character or to translate into Arabic.
Commonly confused: Arab or Arabic? Arab or Muslim?
Arab vs Arabic
Use 'Arab' for a person or for cultural things like 'Arab culture'. Use 'Arabic' for the language, as in 'She speaks Arabic', or for script and coffee.
Arab vs Muslim
Not all Arabs are Muslims, and most Muslims are not Arabs. 'Arab' is about ethnic and cultural background; 'Muslim' is about religion.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'Arab' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Arab' is the right word for a person from the Arab world. Option An is wrong because the language is 'Arabic', not 'Arab'. Option C is wrong because the coffee is called 'Arabic coffee'. Option D is wrong because a language is 'Arabic'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Arab”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.