The 70 most important Arabic words related to camels

Older Arabic dictionaries and collections list hundreds of words that mean camel in one way or another or that describe camels. The camel (the dromedary) has a special significance in Arab culture which is reflected in the Arabic language. Especially in classical Arabic, there are countless terms that are largely extinct today, but still have a special beauty.

If you read old texts and descriptions of the desert and desert life, you will come across these words again and again. They also give anyone learning Arabic a sense of how flexibly words can be applied to many different things. What makes Arabic special is not its exactness, but its approximation – that one word can mean many things.

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Note: Most of the words here are rarely used today. However, if you read old texts, including religious commentaries, you will come across them occasionally. There are also many other dialect expressions that are not listed here (but are welcome to add if someone knows such words!)

Most common Arabic words for camel – generic names

إِبِل (‘ibil)

Camels / a group of camels in general

إِبِل is a collective noun similar to the word خَيْلٌ for horses and بَقَرٌ for cattle. إِبِل is considered feminine in Arabic and does not have a singular form.

The collective noun إِبِل includes the two main species: the dromedary with a single hump and the camel with two humps. Hump is سَنام in Arabic. If you want to express the number of humps, you use the construction with ذو. A dromedary can be described as ذو سنام and a camel ذو سنامين.

Watch out! Even though we usually say camel – which I also do here in this article for simplification – it is usually a dromedary, which is what we see in the Arab world, so with only one hump. The camel with two humps is common in Central Asia, in western China and in northern Persia. It was known to the Arabs under the name of فالِج or فَلْج, a large or bulky camel with two humps. The plural is فَوَالِجُ. Note: The camel humps were a delicacy for the Bedouins. The fat of the camel's hump is called سَدِيف.

جَمَل (jamal)

Only used for the male camel

If you want to stress that the camel is, in fact, a dromedary (one hump), you can say جَمَل عَرَبيّ. Plural form: جِمال.

This is perhaps the most common name and the word learners of Arabic know the most. The word جَمَلٌ is . Interestingly, in many Semitic languages, we find a similar root. It is the same in Hebrew: גמל. Note that a mature camel was known as a גמל (“gamal”, perhaps a source of the Arabic word camel) which derives from the verb גמל (gamal), which is also used in the sense of to ripen or bear ripe fruits.

بَعِير (ba'eer)

An individual camel, regardless of sex. A singular form for camel

It has the plural forms أباعِرُ or أباعيرُ or أَبْعِرَة or بُعْران.

بَعِير is used for camels or dromedaries that can be used for riding or carrying stuff. Usually, the term is used for animals that are 4 years or older. It is used for male and female camels.

Where does the word come from? بَعِير originally just meant cattle/livestock and has some connection to the Biblical Hebrew root בער which basically are the same root letters as in Arabic. In Hebrew, the root has many meanings and among them are to graze, cattle and fool (being uncultivated). Since the Bedouin's cattle ware camels, it became a word for camel.

Letting go of the dung is described by the I-verb بَعَرَ (when talking of a camel or cattle, sheep). That's probably where the word بَعِير comes from, literally “the dunging animal”. The word بَعْر means dung (of animals).

ناقة (naqa)

Only used for the female camel (الأُنثى مِن الإِبل)

It has the plural forms نَاقٌ or ونُوقٌ or وأَيْنَقٌ or وأَنْوَاقٌ

Diminutive forms: أيْنُقٍ or أُيَيْنِقاتٌ or أُيَيْنِق

In other Semitic languages, e.g., Biblical Hebrew, the root has a connection to suckle which may explain the term.

فَحْل (fahl)

A generic term for stud; stallion (الذَّكَرُ مِنْ كُلِّ حَيَوَانٍ). It can also denote the male camel.

فَحْل can serve as a singular form of إِبِل. Plural form: فُحُولٌ

It takes a little finesse to use the word and its derivatives. For example, فُحولة means manliness; potency; virility and can sometimes be misunderstood as cultures see such a trait valued differently.

الْجَلَبُ (al-jalab)

The camels, sheep and goods brought for trade (ما جُلِبَ من إِبلٍ وغنمٍ ومتاعٍ للتجارة)

The corresponding I-verb يَجْلُبُ – جَلَبَ means to bring about; to cause; to bring; in old times: Bringing camels or small livestock or slaves to market. For example, النُّفاضُ يُقَطِّرُ الْجَلَبَ means: The lack of food causes the camels to be lined up as intended for sale (= the need forces one to sell the camels). The صيغة المبالغة is جَلّاب which is a trader. A جَلّابُ الْعَبِيدِ is a slave trader.

Names for baby camels

سَلِيل (saleel)

Word for the baby camel right after birth, before one had time to see if it is male or female.

جُوَار or جِوَار (juwaar/jiwaar)

The general term for baby camel

سَقْب (saqb)

A male baby camel

حائِل (haa'il)

A female baby camel

Note: The crossing of two-humped stallions with Arab female camels (عِراب) produced the species called بُخْت which did not breed and which was used mainly as a beast of burden. So the term خَيْلٌ عِرابٌ means Horses of pure Arabian race. The term إِبِلٌ عِرابٌ is signifying Camels of pure Arabian race as opposed to بَخاتِيٌّ.

بَكْر (bakr) and feminine بَكْرة

They both describe a young but already fully grown camel, especially from the female (even without the feminine ending).

And there is بِكْر (bikr) which usually means “virgin” in Arabic but may also denote in reference to the female camel that she has given birth to her first young. In Hebrew, the word בכר (bikher) has a similar meaning, especially the feminine form which became specifically attached to the young of a camel.

For example, Jeremiah 2:23: “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals'? Look at your way in the valley!” (איך תאמרי לא נטמאתי אחרי הבעלים לא הלכתי ראי דרכך בגיא דעי מה עשית בכרה קלה משרכת דרכיה)

Sounds related to camels

رُغاء (rughaa')

It signifies the cry or grumbling which is a kind of gurgling growl of the camel (when the animal is being laden, and on some other occasions of discontent). It is used for animals having the kind of foot called خُفّ – أَخْفاف. Note that for cattle, the term ظِلْف is used for claw. When people wanted to say “camels and cattle (including sheep and goats), they used the expression الخُف والظِلف

The corresponding verb is رَغَى – يَرْغُو

A رَغُوٌّ is a she-camel that utters often the grumbling cry termed رُغاء

أَطِيط الْبَعِير (‘ateet al-ba'eer)

The sound (creaking) of a camels'saddle when it is new.

Verbs used with camels

حَدا – يَحْدُو (hadaa)

Driving a camel with singing

The Arabs commonly sang verses to drive their camels. Such verses are called رَخَز. There is a legend explaining the use of this verb. حَدَا لَها means he “sings to them”. It originated when a desert Arab was beating his young boy (or a young man) and biting his fingers. The young man then went along saying دَىْ دَىْ meaning O my two hands! (يا يَدَيَّ). So his master told him to keep at it, and the camels went on at his call.

ساقَ – يَسُوق (saaqa)

To drive a camel (cattle)

بَرَّكَ – يُبَرِّك (barraka)

To let a camel kneel

أَنْهَل – يُنْهِلُ (‘anhal)

To water the camel early in the morning

The word مَنْهَلٌ denotes a watering-place; i.e., a spring to which camels come to water.

أَعَلَّ – يُعِلُّ (‘a'alla)

To water the camel in the afternoon

Tools and things related to camels

وَبَر (wabar)

camel hair (fur; soft hair).

You may also come across the expression أَهْلُ الْوَبَرِ in some old texts, which basically means: the Bedouins. This is because the people of the desert, the people of the tents are called like that because they make their tents of the وَبَر of camels (and other material).

رَحْل (rahl)

camel saddle. Plural: رِحال or أَرْحُل

It basically denotes any kind of thing that you throw on a camel's back to ride it – this is specifically associated with camels. You may also encounter in old texts the word شاغِر (plural: شَواغِر)

Another word for saddle used for also other animals is بَرْدَعة (plural بَرادِعُ) and سَرْج.

حِلْس (hils)

saddle cloth

All that mounts the back of the animal under the saddle.

Camels names by age

Dromedary camels, also known as Arabian camels or one-humped camels, have a lifespan of about 40 to 50 years. They are a species of camel native to the arid regions of the Middle East and North Africa and are well adapted to their desert habitats.

جادِل (jadil)

When fat grows in the hump of a young camel

ثَنْي (thanyun)

A (female) camel who gave birth twice.

Note that ثَنْي is from the root denoting two.

اِبْن مُخاضٍ (ibn mukhadin)

The camel in the second year of life

حِقّ (hiqq) and feminine حِقّة

A camel, usually in the fourth year – because then it is suitable (اِسْتِحَقَّ) for riding and carrying loads.

جَذَع (jadha)

A fifth year camel, called the toothed one (all teeth grown)

The term جَذَع is also used for other animals and generally denotes a mature animal that has teeth for the first time – of horses the three-year-old, of camels the five-year-old, of sheep one-year-old.

سَدِيس (sadees)

A camel, eight or nine years of life, when it gets the so-called canine tooth (ناب) – in German “Hundszahn”

The ناب (plural: أَنْياب or أَنْيُب) usually denotes canine tooth but may rarely also mean ripening tooth or molar tooth. Derived from this word: نيب, meaning old female camel; can also mean leader. The ناب is the tooth that follows the quadrilateral of the teeth (رَباعِيات) and is thin-headed.

بازِل (baazil)

Usually applied to a she-camel that has completed her ninth year and attained her full strength

بَزُول means the same but can be applied to the male and the female.

مُْخْلِف (mukhlif)

A ten-year-old camel

It literally means “leaving behind”. A camel that has exceeded in age the بازِل. Beyond that age there are usually no special terms. So you say “that has exceeded in age the بازِل by two years” = مُخْلِفُ عامَيْنِ

عَوْد (awd) or feminine عَوْدةٌ

A camel, advanced in age, but retaining remains of strengths

A camel that has passed the ages of بازِل and مُخْلِف. When the camel's canine tooth (ناب) becomes dull and yellow (اصْفَرَّ). If you refer to a female camel, you say ناقةٌ عَوْدةٌ.

Here is an old saying about this: “An old frail man on an old frail camel with a jagged broken spear in his hand” (ثِلْبٌ عَلَى ثِلْبٍ وَبَيْدِهِ ثَلِبٌ). In Lane's Lexicon you can find the following proverb: “An old man upon an old camel upon an old worn road” (عَوْدٌ عَلَى عَوْدٍ عَلَى عَوْدٍ خَلَق)

قَحْر (qahr)

The camel still has some strength left

Incidentally, the word was also used for old people in the past.

ثِلْب (thilb)

Literally: “The flawed one”

When his canine teeth (انياب) break and the came's face turns ashen (اشهابّ) and the hair of the camel's tail (هُلْبُ ذَنَبِهِ) falls out.

عَشَبة (ashba) and عَشَمة

Usually denoting an old she-camel

From the verb عَشِبَ, meaning “dry, grow old”.

ماجّ (majj)

Literally “The Slobbering One” – when his saliva is already beginning to flow.

Words for characteristics of camels

بَهْزَرة (bahzara)

Big, fat female camel

مُتْلِية (mutliya)

A mother, or a she-camel, and a female wild animal, having her young one following her

مِثْكال (mithkaal)

A camel deprived of its children

In a broader sense, a she-camel that is accustomed to losing her young by death or by slaughter or by gift. Plural: مَثاكِيلُ. Also used for people, i.e., a woman that loses her child (usually by death). The word ثُكْلٌ is the loss or state of being bereft of a child.

هامِل (hamil)

A stray camel that no one owns

For example: the camels were neglected, left neglected, without a shepherd (هَمَلَتِ الإِبِلُ : تُرِكَتْ مُهْمَلَةً تَسْرَحُ بِلاَ رَاعٍ). You can also use that for dogs, for example, a stray dog (كَلْب هامِل).

جُرْشُع (jurshu'a)

Obese; fat (adjective for camel)

You can also apply this adjective to horses.

جَزُور (jazour)

Camel destined for slaughter

جَلْدٌ (jald)

Strong, sturdy, persistent camel

جَلِيل (jaleel)

Large adult camel

جَمُوم (jamoum)

Fast trotting female camel (also: horse)

حَلُوبة (halouba)

Milk camel

حانّة (hanna)

The female camel moaning with homesickness or longing for her young

The I-verb حَنَّ – يَحِنُّ denotes to long (for); to yearn (for); to ache (for). The word ُحَنّان means loving (it is also a given name). For example: He has neither a (female) camel nor a sheep (ما لَهُ حانَّةٌ وَلا آنَّة) = لا ناقَةَ وَلا شاةَ

خَطّارة (khattara)

Female camel wagging its tail (making it swing with vivacity and liveliness)

مُتَخَمِّط (mutakhammit)

An angry or proud camel stallion

In Lisan al-Arab, the masdar-form التَّخَمُّطُ is explained as التَّكَبُّرُ (arrogance, haughtiness, pride, vanity)

مُخَيَّسة (mukhayyasa)

Female camel who has already been trained to ride and carry loads

ذَلُول (dhaloul)

easy to handle gentle camel

رازِم (raazim)

Very emaciated camel

أَزَبُّ (azabb)

A hairy camel, particularly shaggy in the face

For example: Every camel with a hairy face is accustomed to running away (at random) out of fear. (كُلُّ أَزَبَّ نَفُورٌ)

مُسَدَّم (musaddam)

A camel stallion of noble breeding, with a strap in front of his mouth (a muzzle)

مُسانَدة (musaanada)

A female camel whose back is firmly built

ساهِمة (sahima)

Thin and slim-bellied camel

Especially from female camels that have become lean and thin-bellied from long marches. Dont't get confused! The word ٌسَهْم can mean arrow or stock. The III-verb ساهَمَ – يُساهِمُ means to participate in.

شائِلة (shaa'ila)

Female camel raising her tail to indicate that she is pregnant (already seven or eight months old) and out of milk.

صَبْحَى (sabha)

A female camel being milked in the morning

Remark: What form is that? It is the feminine form of صَبْحانُ!

صَعُود (sa'oud)

A female camel who has given birth prematurely or to a misshapen young camel and has therefore returned to her camel born the previous year and allowed it to drink.

Such a camel is supposed to give the best milk, says old folk wisdom. Watch out: According to a weak (ضَعيف) Hadith, الصَّعُودُ (with definite article) could be a mountain in hell: The Messenger of Allah said: “Al-Sa'ud is a mountain of fire, a disbeliever will be rised upon it for seventy autumns, and them similarly he will fall down it, forever.” (الصَّعُودُ جَبَلٌ مِنْ نَارٍ يَتَصَعَّدُ فِيهِ الْكَافِرُ سَبْعِينَ خَرِيفًا ثُمَّ يَهْوِي بِهِ كَذَلِكَ فِيهِ أَبَدًا) – Jami' al-Tirmidhi 3326

مُطَّرِد (muttarid)

Non-stop running camel

Note: مُطَّرِد in Modern Standard Arabic means steady.

عَجُول (ajoul)

A confused, dismayed female camel at the loss of her young camel

The connection to the root, which essentially means to hurry, can possibly be explained by the fact that the camel is impatient in its movements when coming and going quickly. In Modern Standard Arabic, عَجُول means hurried, hasty.

عَلُوق (‘alouq)

A female camel who is given another's young camel, but who, as soon as she recognizes by the smell that it is not her own young, withholds the milk.

The I-verb عَلِقَ – يَعْلَقُ means to be attached; to stick.

ناضِح (naadih)

Camel destined to draw water

هِيْم (heem)

Camels suffering from the so-called thirst disease (هِيام)

Camels get this disease from drinking stagnant water; they then wander about, driven by raging thirst and abhorring all food (until, as some say, at last they perish). The word هِيم is the plural of the active participle أَهْيَمُ or هائِم. It is related to camels, describing them as confused or demented (through thirst).

The word occurs in the Holy Qur'an in Sura 56:55: فَشَـٰرِبُونَ شُرْبَ ٱلْهِيمِ which can be (literally) translated as: “So you will be drinking (like) the drinking of diseased camels wandering with thirst.”

Camel names by color

أَدْهَمُ (adham)

Dark-colored, black-brown camel

أَشْهَبُ (ash-hab)

Light colored white camel

أَصْهَبُ (ashab)

White-red, wine-colored camel

These camels are said to be among the finest and most revered camels. According to some poets, the red camels were most admired by the Arabs. But there are other sources that say something different and above all see the black camels as the best (for example the 12th verse of the Muallaka of the Antara)

Camel group names by number of camels

ذَوْد (thawd)

3 to 10 camels

صِرْمة (sirma)

10 to 30 camels

صَدِيع (sadee'a)

About 60 camels

عُكْرة (‘ukra)

Up to 70; some say also: between 50 and 100

جُول (joul)

30 to 40 camels

هِنْد (hind)

100 camels

حَوْم (hawm)

1000 or more (even: infinite number)