Arabian

1 of 2

noun

Ara·​bi·​an ə-ˈrā-bē-ən 

1

: a native or inhabitant of Arabia

2

: arabian horse

Arabian

2 of 2

adjective

1

: of, relating to, or characteristic of Arabia or the people of Arabia

Arabian music/art

Some people say the unicorn myth began long ago in the Arabian desert …

—Bet Hennefrund

… bad paintings of Arabian street scenes …

—Paul Karr et al.

These days the British are better acquainted with Arab customs, Arabian history, and the Arabic language, and with Arabs themselves, whose language we have been borrowing for six centuries.

—Philip Howard

… an exquisitely beautiful Arabian girl …

—Maurice Richardson

For authenticity, even the jockeys would be garbed in Arabian-type costumes.

—Carl Hiaasen

Arabian food includes a lot of spiced lamb and rice …

—Cleo Murphy

2

: of, relating to, involving, or being Arabian horses

… Thoroughbred, Morgan, and Arabian stallions …

—Alexander Fuller

Although dressage shows have been recognized by the American Horse Shows Association for only twenty years, they number just after hunter/jumper and Arabian competitions as the United States' third largest showing group.

—Wendy Insinger

Examples of Arabian in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Black pepper from India became particularly prized in Roman cooking, while Arabian ports and merchants played an important role in trade between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. — Laura Payne, Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Sep. 2026

The Williams driver, who is from Madrid, compared the new track to the ones at the Azerbaijan GP in Baku and the Saudi Arabian GP in Jeddah. — ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026

On the day the plan was presented, the commission first had to review schematics for a new mesh enclosure for an Arabian-leopard habitat at the National Zoo. — Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2026

Guria is a Georgian, Swiss, Luxembourgish, Bulgarian, Turkish, Norwegian and Saudi Arabian co-production. — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing Arabian

• Arabian horse
• Saudi Arabian

Rhymes for Arabian

• fabian

Kids Definition

Arabian

adjective

Ara·​bi·​an

ə-ˈrā-bē-ən

: of, relating to, or characteristic of Arabia or its people

Arabian noun