Bedouin
/ˈbɛd.u.ɪn/noun
A member of a traditionally nomadic Arab-speaking community of the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East.
Did you know?In Arabic, badawī was contrasted with ḥaḍarī, a settled person, revealing an old cultural division between desert nomads and town-dwellers.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*badaw-
“To live or exist in an open, uncultivated place; the reconstructed source of the Arabic desert-dweller vocabulary.”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
badw
“The open desert or desert country, contrasted with settled territory.”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
badawī
“A person associated with the desert; a desert-dweller or nomad.”
13th Century
Old French
Beduin
“A member of an Arab desert-nomad population, borrowed through Arabic usage.”
Modern English
English
Bedouin
“A traditional Arabic-speaking desert nomad or member of such a community.”