'Arab' originates from Arabic, specifically the word 'ʿarab' (عرب), where the root referred to 'nomads' or people of the Arabian Peninsula.

'Arab' passed into Late Latin as 'Arabs' and Old French as 'arabe', then into Middle English and eventually became the modern English word 'Arab'.

Initially, it referred more narrowly to peoples of the Arabian Peninsula or nomadic groups; over time it broadened to denote the wider ethnolinguistic group and inhabitants of Arabic-speaking countries (the 'Arab world').