Everyday Words From Arabic in English, French and Spanish

There is no single agreed number, because it depends on whether you count rare and technical words and words that came through other languages. Dictionaries list several hundred English words with Arabic roots. Only a few dozen of them are common in everyday speech.

Arabic was spoken across much of the Iberian Peninsula from 711 until the fall of Granada in 1492. Over those centuries, Spanish absorbed thousands of words for farming, food, building, administration and daily life. Many of them, like aceite and alcalde, never passed into English or French.

No. The al- prefix is a strong clue in Spanish, but plenty of words begin with al- for other reasons, such as English almost or Spanish alto, which come from Old English and Latin. Always check a good etymological dictionary.

They share the same Arabic root, makhāzin (storehouses), but they drifted apart. Spanish almacén still means a warehouse or store, French magasin means a shop, and English magazine came to mean an ammunition store and later a periodical full of articles.

Yes. The Real Academia Española traces ojalá to an Andalusi Arabic phrase meaning roughly “and God has willed it”. Today Spanish speakers use it to express a hope or wish, much like “I hope so” in English.