n. 1. A member of a pre-Islamic nomadic people of the Syrian and Arabian Deserts. 2. A Muslim, especially of the time of the Crusades. [Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin Saracēnus, from Late Greek Sarakēnos, ultimately from Arabic šarq, east, sunrise; see śrq in the Appendix of Semitic roots.] Sar′a·cenic (-sĕnĭk) adj. |
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