Abd
/æbd/noun
A servant or enslaved person, especially in Arabic or Islamic historical contexts.
Did you know?In Arabic names, ʿabd is commonly followed by one of the names or attributes of God, as in ʿAbd Allāh—“servant of God.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*ʕabd-
“Servant or slave”
1st Millennium BCE
Northwest Semitic
ʕbd
“Servant; one devoted to a deity”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
ʿabd (عبد)
“Servant, slave, or worshipper”
Early Islamic Period
Arabic
ʿabd Allāh
“Servant of God, a devotional personal-name formula”
19th Century
English
abd
“A servant or enslaved person, used as an Arabic loanword”
Modern English
English
abd
“An uncommon historical or anthropological term for an Arabic servant or slave”
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