Saracen
/ˈsæɹəˌsən/
Saracen noun: a member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD, who were specifically distinct from Arabs.
Noun
Saracen (plural Saracens)
- A member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD, who were specifically distinct from Arabs.
- A Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades.
- We pretend to be Christians, and, from the superior Light we enjoy, ought to exceed Heathens, Turks, Saracens, Moors, Negroes, and Indians, in the Knowledge and Practice of what is right.1764, Benjamin Franklin, A Narrative of the Late Massacres
- A pirate in the Mediterranean.
Saracen meaning in Tamil
Saracen in Tamil
- புலம் பெயர்வோர், கிறித்தவ சிலுவைப் போர்க்கால முசல்மான்
Forms of Saracen
| plural | Saracens |
|---|
Origin of Saracen
From Late Latin Saracenus, from Ancient Greek Σαρακηνός (Sarakēnós) - *Saraka[?] + -ινος. The source of the Greek has long been debated. * In the 17th-19th centuries, the most widely accepted theory derived it from Arabic شَرْقِيِّين (šarqiyyin, “easterners”), as the Sarakenoi lived to the east of most Semitic peoples of the time. * Some authors in the 15th-17th centuries derived it from Arabic سَارِقُون (sāriqūn, “plunderers”) (as mentioned in Wikipedia Saracen). * In the 4th century AD, some authors (e.g. Eusebius) connected it (likely by folk etymology) to the biblical Sarah, claiming that the progeny of Hagar had chosen that name to imitate the nobler roots of Israelites. This might be the source of the pejorative use of the term, and its wide currency. * Two theories based on place-names point at Saraka in Arabia, or Sarakēnē in Arabia Petrea. The latter, apparently in Sinai, may be related to the Bedouin tribe Sawārke/Sawārika. According to this theory, this was the first Arabic group with whom the Greek writers from Alexandria would have sustained contacts, and it served as a type that was later generalized to all Arabic groups.
Words formed from Saracen
Phrases with Saracen
Questions about Saracen
- What does Saracen mean?
- Saracen means a member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD, who were specifically distinct from Arabs.
- What is Saracen in Tamil?
- Saracen in Tamil is புலம் பெயர்வோர், கிறித்தவ சிலுவைப் போர்க்கால முசல்மான். See Saracen meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is Saracen?
- Saracen is a noun.
- How do you pronounce Saracen?
- Saracen is pronounced /ˈsæɹəˌsən/.
- What is the plural of Saracen?
- The plural of Saracen is Saracens.
Words near Saracen in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Saracen (page history and authors); saracen (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “Saracen.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/saracen. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.