'arabise' originates from Modern English, formed from the word 'Arabic' with the verb-forming suffix '-ise' (from French '-iser'), meaning 'to make or render into Arabic'.

'arabise' was influenced by French 'arabiser' and the noun/adjective 'Arabic' (from Latin 'Arabicus' and Greek 'Arabikos'), and has also a variant spelling in English as 'arabize' (with -ize) in later usage.

Initially, the formation simply meant 'to make Arabic' or 'to render into Arabic'; over time the word has retained that basic sense and has been used for linguistic, script, and cultural adaptation.