Words borrowed from Arabic and Persian

What you’ll explore

Arabic and Persian have shaped vocabulary in fields like math, medicine, textiles, and food - often via Spanish, French, Turkish, or Latin intermediaries. This quiz helps you recognize those pathways and remember the core roots behind familiar terms.

Each question is multiple-choice with 4 options and no timer, so you can focus on pattern-spotting rather than speed. Before you start, pick how many questions you want to answer and set the difficulty (easy, hard, or mixed) to match your mood.

Skills you’ll practice

You’ll practice linking words to their source language, noticing common transliteration patterns (like al-, -dar, -shah), and distinguishing direct borrowings from later re-borrowings. You’ll also get better at using context clues: domain (astronomy vs. cuisine), spelling variants, and historical routes.

Common pitfalls to avoid

Many players over-trust “sounds Arabic” or “looks Persian” without checking the route a word took into English. Another frequent trap is confusing Arabic loanwords that entered through Spanish (often keeping al-) with Persian words that arrived through Indo-Persian culture or Turkish.

• Don’t assume every word starting with “al-” is a direct Arabic borrowing into English
• Watch for false friends: similar-looking words that come from Greek/Latin instead
• Remember that some terms arrived via intermediaries (Spanish, French, Turkish), changing spelling
• Separate modern place/people associations from true etymology (origin vs. where it’s used)
• Use the meaning domain as a clue (science, trade goods, administration, cuisine)

How the difficulty stays balanced

Mixed mode blends straightforward everyday loanwords with trickier items involving spelling shifts, doublets, or indirect transmission. Easier questions lean on high-frequency words and clear signals, while harder ones test subtle distinctions and less common vocabulary - without requiring specialist knowledge.