arab

n. [ Prob. ultimately fr. Heb. arabah a desert, the name employed, in the Old Testament, to denote the valley of the Jordan and Dead Sea. Ar. Arab, Heb. arabi, arbi, arbim: cf. F. Arabe, L. Arabs, Gr. &unr_;. ] One of a swarthy race occupying Arabia, and numerous in Syria, Northern Africa, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Street Arab, a homeless vagabond in the streets of a city, particularly and outcast boy or girl. Tylor. [ 1913 Webster ] The ragged outcasts and street Arabs who are shivering in damp doorways. Lond. Sat. Rev. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. arabesque, fr. It. arabesco, fr. Arabo Arab. ] A style of ornamentation either painted, inlaid, or carved in low relief. It consists of a pattern in which plants, fruits, foliage, etc., as well as figures of men and animals, real or imaginary, are fantastically interlaced or put together. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It was employed in Roman imperial ornamentation, and appeared, without the animal figures, in Moorish and Arabic decorative art. (See Moresque.) The arabesques of the Renaissance were founded on Greco-Roman work. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Arabian. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Relating to, or exhibiting, the style of ornament called arabesque; as, arabesque frescoes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Ornamented in the style of arabesques. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to Arabia or its inhabitants. [ 1913 Webster ]

Arabian bird, the phenix. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A native of Arabia; an Arab. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 ]