arabic

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: Ar=a=bic

CIDE DICTIONARY

arabic, a. [L. Arabicus, fr. Arabia.].

 Of or pertaining to Arabia or the Arabians.  [1913 Webster]

Arabic numerals or figures, the nine digits, 1, 2, 3, etc., and the cipher 0. -- Gum arabic. See under Gum.

arabic, n. 

 The language of the Arabians.  [1913 Webster]
" The Arabic is a Semitic language, allied to the Hebrew. It is very widely diffused, being the language in which all Moslems must read the Koran, and is spoken as a vernacular tongue in Arabia, Syria, and Northern Africa."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

arabic, n. & adj.
--n. the Semitic language of the Arabs, now spoken in much of N. Africa and the Middle East.
--adj. of or relating to Arabia (esp. with reference to language or literature).

Idiom

arabic numeral any of the numerals 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 (cf. roman numeral).

Etymology

ME f. OF arabic f. L arabicus f. Gk arabikos