Sahrawi
/səˈrɑːwi/noun
Relating to the Sahara, especially the Sahrawi people of Western Sahara.
Did you know?Sahrawi is an Arabic nisba adjective, a grammatical form used to express affiliation or origin—literally marking someone or something as connected with the ṣaḥrāʾ, “desert.”
Etymological Timeline
Classical Arabic
Arabic
ṣaḥrāʾ (صَحْرَاء)
“Desert; a barren or open expanse”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
ṣaḥrāwī (صَحْرَاوِيّ)
“Desert-related or belonging to the desert, formed with an Arabic affiliation suffix”
19th–20th Century
French
Sahraoui
“Sahrawi; a French rendering of the Arabic adjective”
20th Century
English
Sahrawi
“Relating to the Sahrawi people or to Western Sahara”
Modern English
English
Sahrawi
“A person from the Sahrawi population, or an adjective relating to them and their culture”