ARABIAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Arabian mean? 

• ARABIAN (noun)
  The noun ARABIAN has 2 senses:

1. a member of a Semitic people originally from the Arabian peninsula and surrounding territories who speaks Arabic and who inhabits much of the Middle East and northern Africa

2. a spirited graceful and intelligent riding horse native to Arabia

  Familiarity information: ARABIAN used as a noun is rare.

• ARABIAN (adjective)
  The adjective ARABIAN has 2 senses:

1. relating to or associated with Arabia or its people

2. of or relating to Arabian horses

  Familiarity information: ARABIAN used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ARABIAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A member of a Semitic people originally from the Arabian peninsula and surrounding territories who speaks Arabic and who inhabits much of the Middle East and northern Africa

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Arab; Arabian

Hypernyms ("Arabian" is a kind of...):

Semite (a member of a group of Semitic-speaking peoples of the Middle East and northern Africa)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Arabian"):

Bahraini; Bahreini (a native or inhabitant of Bahrain)

Palestinian; Palestinian Arab (a descendant of the Arabs who inhabited Palestine)

Omani (a native or inhabitant of Oman)

Katari; Qatari (a native or inhabitant of Qatar)

Saudi; Saudi Arabian (a native or inhabitant of Saudi Arabia)

Yemeni (a native or inhabitant of Yemen)

Bedouin; Beduin (a member of a nomadic tribe of Arabs)

Saracen ((when used broadly) any Arab)

Holonyms ("Arabian" is a member of...):

Arabia; Arabian Peninsula (a peninsula between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf; strategically important for its oil resources)

Derivation:

Arabian (relating to or associated with Arabia or its people)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A spirited graceful and intelligent riding horse native to Arabia

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

Arab; Arabian

Hypernyms ("Arabian" is a kind of...):

mount; riding horse; saddle horse (a lightweight horse kept for riding only)

Derivation:

Arabian (of or relating to Arabian horses)

• ARABIAN (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Relating to or associated with Arabia or its people

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

Arabian Sea

Pertainym:

Arabia (a peninsula between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf; strategically important for its oil resources)

Derivation:

Arabia (a peninsula between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf; strategically important for its oil resources)

Arabian (a member of a Semitic people originally from the Arabian peninsula and surrounding territories who speaks Arabic and who inhabits much of the Middle East and northern Africa)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or relating to Arabian horses

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

Arab (a spirited graceful and intelligent riding horse native to Arabia)

Derivation:

Arabian (a spirited graceful and intelligent riding horse native to Arabia)

 Context examples 

Denotes a person with ethnic origins in the Semitic people originally from the Arabian peninsula and surrounding territories in the Middle East and northern Africa.

(Arab, NCI Thesaurus)

The gentle words of Agatha and the animated smiles of the charming Arabian were not for me.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

This diary seems horribly like the beginning of the Arabian Nights, for everything has to break off at cockcrow—or like the ghost of Hamlet's father.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I'd have a stable full of Arabian steeds, rooms piled high with books, and I'd write out of a magic inkstand, so that my works should be as famous as Laurie's music.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I took a book—some Arabian tales; I sat down and endeavoured to read.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

For myself, I swear by the learned Polycarp that I have most ease with Hebrew, and after that perchance with Arabian.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We'll go over 'em one after another. We'll make some regular Arabian Nights of it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A country in southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea, between India on the east and Iran and Afghanistan on the west and China in the north.

(Pakistan, NCI Thesaurus)

A country in the Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, southeast of Saudi Arabia.

(Oman, NCI Thesaurus)

A country in the Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Persian Gulf, between Yemen and the United Arab Emirates.

(Oman, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)