Did you know that there are very few truly English words in the English language. It is like a sponge soaking up everything around it. Its main influences are Latin, and latinate languages such as French, Italian and Spanish. Then, of course, there is a lot of words from Greek, but we also have many from Arabic. Here are some of them- I think you’ll be very surprised-
Raymond
admiral - ami:r-al-bahr ‘ruler of the seas’ (and other similar expressions) - amara command
adobe - al-toba ‘the brick’
albacore - al-bukr ‘the young camel’
alcohol - al-koh’'l ‘the kohl’
alcove - al-qobbah ‘vault’ - qubba vault
alfalfa - alfas,fas,ah ‘fodder’
algebra - al-jebr ‘reintegration’ - jabara reunite
Algol - al-ghu:l ‘the ghoul’
algorithm - al-Khowarazmi ‘the (man) of Khiva’
alkali - al-qaliy ‘calx’ - qalay fry, roast
Allah - allah, from contraction of al-ilah 'the god' almanac - (Andalucian Arabic) al-mana:kh, of uncertain origin amber -anbar ‘ambergris’
apricot - al-burquq - from Greek
Arab - arab arsenal - dar as,s,inaah ‘house of making’, i.e. ‘factory’ - s,anaa make artichoke - al-kharshu:f assassin - h'ashsha:shi:n 'hashish eaters', from the Ismaili sectarians
ayatollah - ‘ayatu-llah ‘miraculous sign of God’
azimuth - as-sumut ‘the paths’; see also zenith
azure - al-lazward ‘lapis lazuli’ - from Persian
Betelgeuse - bi:t al-jauza:’ ‘shoulder of the Giant’
borax - bu:raq - from Persian
caliber - qali:b ‘mold, last’ -
calico - Qaliqu:t ‘Calicut’, city in India
caliph - khali:fah ‘successor’ - khalafa ‘succeed’
camise - qami:s ‘shirt’ - from Latin
camphor - ka:fu:r - from Malay
candy - short for ‘sugar candy’, from sugar + qandi ‘candied’, from qand ‘cane sugar’ - from a Dravidian language
carat - qi:ra:t ‘small weight’ - from Greek
caraway - alkarawya: - probably from Greek
carafe - gharra:f - gharafa ‘dip’
carob - kharrubah
cassock - kaza:ghand ‘padded jacket’ - from Persian
check - sha:h ‘king’ - from Persian
checkmate - sha:h ma:t ‘the king is dead’
chess - from Old French eschecs, plural of check
cipher - s,ifr ‘empty’
coffee - qahwah
Copt - quft - from Greek
cork - qu:rq
cotton - qutn
couscous - kuskus - kaskasa pound, bruise
crimson - qirmazi:, related to the qirmiz, the insect that provided the dye
dhow - da:w
dinar - di:na:r - from Greek
dirham - dirham - from Greek
efreet - 'ifri:t ‘monster’
elixir - al-iksi:r ‘philosopher’s stone’ - from Greek
emir - ami:r - amara command
fakir - faqi:r ‘poor man’ - faqura be poor
Farsi - Fa:rs ‘Pars’, a province of Iran - from Persian
fatwa - fetwa - fata: instruct by a legal decision
fedayeen - fida:‘iyi:n ‘commandos’ - fida:` redemption
felafel - fala:fil
fellah - fella:h’ ‘husbandman’ - falah’a till
garble - gharbala ‘sift’ - perhaps from Latin
gazelle - ghaza:l
genie - jinni: ‘spirit’
gerbil - yarbu:`
ghoul - ghu:l ‘demon’ - gha:la take suddenly
giraffe - zara:fa
haj - h’ajj ‘pilgrimage’ - h’ajja go on a pilgrimage
halvah - h’alwa:
harem - h’aram ‘prohibited, set apart’ - h’arama prohibit
hashish - h’ashi:sh ‘dried herbs, hemp’
hazard - y?sara ‘play at dice’
henna - h’enna:`
Hezbollah - H’izbulla:h ‘party of God’
hookah - h’uqqah ‘water bottle (through which smoke is drawn)’
imam - ima:m ‘leader’ - amma precede
Islam - isla:m ‘submission’ - aslama submit oneself
jar - jarrah ‘large earthen vase’
jasmine - ya:smi:n - from Persian
jinn - jinn ‘spirits’, plural of genie
julep - jula:b ‘rose water’ - from Persian
kabob - kaba:b - from Persian
kaffir - ka:fir ‘infidel’ - kafara conceal, deny
keffiyeh - kaffi:yah
Koran - qura:n ‘recitation’ - qara`a read
lilac - li:la:k - from Persian
lemon - laymu:n - from Persian
lime - li:mah ‘citrus fruit’
lute - al-`u:d
macram? - miqramah ‘striped cloth’
magazine - makha:zin ‘storehouses’ - khazana store
Mahdi - mahdi:y ‘one who is guided aright’ - hada: lead
marzipan - mawthaba:n ‘coin featuring a seated figure’
mask - perhaps maskhara ‘buffoon’ - sakhira ridicule
mattress - matrah ‘place where something is thrown, mat, cushion’ - tarah’a throw
minaret - mana:rah - na:r fire
mohair - mukhayyar ‘choice (goats’-hair cloth)’ - khayyara select
monsoon - mausim ‘season’ - wasama mark
mosque - masgid - sagada worship
Mozarabic - musta`rib ‘would-be Arab’
muezzin - mu’adhdhin ‘criers’ - adhana proclaim
mufti - mufti: ‘one who gives a fatwa’
mujahedeen - muja:hidi:n ‘figher in a jihad’
mullah - mawla: ‘master’
mummy - mu:miya: ‘embalmed body’ - mu:m ‘(embalming) wax’
Muslim - muslim ‘submitter’ - aslama submit oneself
muslin - Maus,il ‘Mosul’
nadir - nadi:r as-samt ‘opposite the zenith’
natron - natru:n - from Greek
nizam - nidam ‘government’
orange - na:ranj - from Sanskrit
ottoman - `uthma:n, a proper name
racket - r?h’et ‘palm of the hand’ Ramadan - Ramada:n meaning perhaps ‘the hot month’ - ramata be heated
Rigel - rijl ‘foot (of Orion)’
roc - rukh
rook - rukh - from Persian
safari - safari:y ‘journey’ - safara travel
saffron - zafara:n Sahara - ?ah'ra: 'desert' sahib - ?a:h'ib 'friend' salaam - as-sala:malaikum ‘peace be on you’
Saracen - sharqi:yi:n ‘easterners’ - sha:raqa rise
sash - sha:sh ‘muslin’
satin - probably zaytu:ni: ‘of Zaytu:n’ (a city in China)
scarlet - siqilla:t ‘(cloth) adorned with images’ - from Latin
sequin - sikkah ‘die for coinmaking’
sheikh - shaikh ‘old man’ - sha:kha grow old
sherbet - sharbah - shariba drink
Shiite - shiyai:y, from shiya: ‘following, sect’ - sha`a follow
shrub [drink] - shurb ‘a drink’ - shariba drink
sine - Latin sinus, mistranslation of jayb ‘chord of an arc, sine’, through confusion with jayb ‘fold of a garment’
sirocco - sharq ‘east (wind)’ - sha:raqa rise
sofa - s,uffah ‘raised dais with cushions’
spinach - isfa:na:kh
sugar - sukkar - from Sanskrit
sultan - sulta:n ‘sovereign’
sumac - summa:q
Sunni - sunni: ‘lawful’, from sunna:h ‘rule, course’
syrup - shara:b ‘beverage’ - shariba drink
tabbouleh - tabbu:la
tabby - atta:biy, a neighborhood in Baghdad where taffeta was made tahini - - tah'ana crush Taliban - talib 'student' - talaba study talisman - tilsam - from Greek tamarind - tamr-hindi: 'date of India' tambourine - a small tambour, from tanbu:r - from Persian tandoori - tannu:r 'oven' tarboosh - tarbu:sh tare [weight] - tarh'ah 'rejected' - tarah'a reject tariff - tari:f ‘notification’ - `arafa notify
tarragon - tarkhu:n - possibly from Greek
tell [mound] - tall ‘hillock’
vizier - wazi:r ‘porter, public servant’ - wazara carry
wadi - wa:di:
Waqf - waqf ‘religious foundation’
wisdom tooth - from a Latin calque on adra:su 'l h’ikmi - calqued from Greek
zenith - samt ‘path’
zero - s,ifr ‘empty’