English
fellah
Fellah comes from Arabic فَلَّاح ‘peasant’, and goes back to Classical Syriac ܦܠܚܐ ‘worker’.
- Classical Syriacmodernܦܠܚܐ‘worker’
- Arabicc. 500–presentفَلَّاحfallāḥ‘peasant’
- Englishearliest quotation 1893fellah
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Classical Syriacmodernܦܠܚܐ‘worker’
- Arabicc. 500–presentفَلَّاحfallāḥ‘peasant’
- Englishearliest quotation 1893fellah
Earliest quotation: 1893, Clement Boulton Roylance Kent, Life in Modern Egypt: “The Egyptian fellaheen, in many of their ways and…”
The story
Attested since 1743.
Every English word from Classical Syriac ܦܠܚܐ
Today it means
noun A peasant, farmer or agricultural laborer in the Middle East and North Africa.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Classical Syriac ܦܠܚܐ / fellah