Dictionary

Saracen en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈsæɹəˌsən/

Etymology

From Late Latin Saracenus, from Ancient Greek Σαρακηνός (Sarakēnós) - *Saraka[?] + -ινος. The source of the Greek has long been debated. * In the 17th-19th centuries, the most widely accepted theory derived it from Arabic شَرْقِيِّين (šarqiyyin, “easterners”), as the Sarakenoi lived to the east of most Semitic peoples of the time. * Some authors in the 15th-17th centuries derived it from Arabic سَارِقُون (sāriqūn, “plunderers”) (as mentioned in Wikipedia Saracen). * In the 4th century AD, some authors (e.g. Eusebius) connected it (likely by folk etymology) to the biblical Sarah, claiming that the progeny of Hagar had chosen that name to imitate the nobler roots of Israelites. This might be the source of the pejorative use of the term, and its wide currency. * Two theories based on place-names point at Saraka in Arabia, or Sarakēnē in Arabia Petrea. The latter, apparently in Sinai, may be related to the Bedouin tribe Sawārke/Sawārika. According to this theory, this was the first Arabic group with whom the Greek writers from Alexandria would have sustained contacts, and it served as a type that was later generalized to all Arabic groups.

Meanings

1. A member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD, who were specifically distinct from Arabs.
2. (dated) A Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades.
   • We pretend to be Christians, and, from the superior Light we enjoy, ought to exceed Heathens, Turks, Saracens, Moors, Negroes, and Indians, in the Knowledge and Practice of what is right. 1764, Benjamin Franklin, A Narrative of the Late Massacres:
3. (dated) A pirate in the Mediterranean.

Forms

Coordinates

Mohammedan

Deriveds

Saracenlike · Saracenism

Relateds

sarsen · Serkland · sarsenet · Saracenic

Translations (32)

fr Sarrazin (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · it saraceno (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · scn turcu (pirate in the Mediterranean) · es sarracena (member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD) · fr Sarrasin (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · fr Sarrazin (member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD) · ast sarracena (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · scn saracinu (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · scn saracinu (member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD) · hy սարակինոս (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · fr Sarrasin (member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD) · ast sarracenu (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · scn maumittanu (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · es sarracena (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · pl Saracen (member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD) · scn saracinu (pirate in the Mediterranean) · pt sarraceno (member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD) · es sarraceno (member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD) · tr Sarazen (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · es sarraceno (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · pl Saracen (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · sv saracen (member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD) · scn saracina (pirate in the Mediterranean) · scn saracina (member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD) · de Sarazene (member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD) · da saracener (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · cs Saracén (member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD) · sv saracen (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · ru сараци́н (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · scn turca (pirate in the Mediterranean) · ka სარკინოზი (Arab or any Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades) · hy սարակինոս (member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries AD)