Ṣaḥrāʾ
/ˈsˤaħ.raːʔ/noun
An Arabic word meaning desert, especially a barren or open expanse of land.
Did you know?The English name Sahara comes from Arabic aṣ-ṣaḥrāʾ, meaning “the desert,” so “Sahara Desert” technically means “Desert Desert.”
Etymological Timeline
Classical Arabic
Arabic
ṣaḥrāʾ
“Desert; barren or open land”
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
aṣ-ṣaḥrāʾ
“The desert, with the Arabic definite article assimilated before the emphatic ṣ”
12th–13th Century
Medieval Latin
Sahara
“The great North African desert, borrowed through Arabic geographical usage”
17th Century
European usage
Sahara
“The North African desert region”
Modern English
English
Sahara
“The vast desert spanning much of North Africa”
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