The other day I realised I’d never really looked into the name of the town I now call home – Adsubia, a small village in the far north of Alicante province. It’s been 5 years already (gulp!).
Curiosity piqued, I did some digging and discovered something fascinating:
The name Adsubia (or L’Atzúbia in Valenciano) comes from the Arabic az-Zāwīa meaning “the hermitage” or “chapel”.
But that was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg!
Digging further, I stumbled upon Adsubia’s Moorish history. The town was ceded to the Valencian-speaking King Jaume I in 1258, but it was still populated by Arabic-speaking people until the expulsion of the Moors in 1609. As it happens, the largest number of Moors were sent to North Africa via the port of Denia on the coast.
A tragic, fascinating and unique piece of Spanish history.
So it was another lightbulb moment on my Spanish-learning journey: as it turns out, approximately 8% of Spanish vocabulary is derived from Arabic!
Suddenly, all the “Beni” town names – Benigembla, Benidoleig, Benidorm, Benissa, Benitachell – clicked into place. “Beni” means “son of,” tying them back to their Arabic roots.
A Big Surprise – My Own Home is Part of this Arabic Legacy
When my husband, Paul, and I were deciding to move to Spain, we visited a friend’s “masía” (a farmhouse) in Catalonia. We even considered buying one – we were shown around a few by a wonderful company that specializes in masias for sale in Catalonia.
The houses were gorgeous but we decided to travel down the coast, eventually falling in love with the Marina Alta region of Alicante. The wild hills, the calm, the tight-knit expat community (I go to a monthly book club with some fascinating folks!).
Once we decided on Adsubia, I called a real estate agency to ask if there were any masias on the market. After an awkward pause, the agent replied, “A what?”
“You know,” I said, “a farmhouse?”
“Ah, señora,” he laughed, “aquí se llaman alquerías.”
And so I learned another gem: “alquería” is the Arabic-rooted term commonly used in the Valencian Community for a farmhouse. Historically, these were agricultural estates or rural houses dating back to Moorish times, which makes sense given the region once had one of the largest Moorish populations in Spain.
A Fascinating List of Arabic Words in Spanish
This realization opened the floodgates. Spanish is peppered with everyday words that come from Arabic. Here are just a few to whet your appetite:
- Aceite (oil) – Closely related, from az-zayt, meaning “olive juice.”
- Aceituna (olive) – Derived from Arabic az-zaytūnah.
- Ajedrez (chess) – From Arabic aš-šaṭranj, which itself came from Persian.
- Álgebra (algebra) – Stems from Arabic al-jabr, roughly meaning “reunion of broken parts.”
- Alcohol – Borrowed from the Arabic al-kuḥl (originally referring to powdered eyeliner).
- Algodón (cotton) – From Arabic al-qutún.
- Albahaca (basil) – From Arabic al-habaqa.
- Alquiler (rent) – From Arabic al-kirá’, meaning “the rent.”
- Atún (tuna) – From Arabic at-tūn.
- Azúcar (sugar) – From the Arabic as-súkkar.
- Barrio (neighborhood) – Possibly from Arabic barrī (“of the land/suburbs”).
- Café (coffee) – Traced through Arabic qahwah, though it also passed through Turkish and Italian.
- Dado (dice) – Likely from Arabic dad.
- Elixir – From Arabic al-iksīr.
- Guitarra (guitar) – From Arabic qīthārah, also linked to Greek and Persian influences.
- Jirafa (giraffe) – From Arabic zarāfa.
- Limón (lemon) – From Arabic laymūn.
- Naranja (orange) – From Arabic nāranj, originally Persian.
- Noria (water wheel) – From Arabic na’oura, referring to a device for lifting water to irrigate fields.
- Ojalá (hopefully) – From Arabic law šāʾ allāh (“if God wills”).
- Sandía (watermelon) – From Arabic sindiyyah.
- Sorbete (sorbet) – From Arabic šarba(t) (“drink”), later adapted through Turkish.
- Talco (talc) – From Arabic ṭalq, likely via Persian.
- Tambor (drum) – From Arabic ṭanbūr, also used in Persian and Turkish.
- Tarea (task) – Traced to Arabic origins, though exact details are debated.
- Zanahoria (carrot) – From Arabic isfanāriyah (via Hispano-Arabic forms).
