Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An Arab of any of the nomadic tribes of the Arabian, Syrian, Nubian, or Sahara Deserts.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An Arab of the desert; one of the nomadic Arabs, divided into many tribes, who live in tents, rear flocks and herds, especially of camels, and are scattered over Arabia, parts of Syria, and Egypt and other parts of Africa. Also Bedawi, plural Bedawin.
  • noun A vagabond boy; a street Arab.
  • Relating to the Bedouins.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One of the nomadic Arabs who live in tents, and are scattered over Arabia, Syria, and northern Africa, esp. in the deserts.
  • adjective Pertaining to the Bedouins; nomad.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a member of a nomadic tribe of Arabs

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English Bedoin, from Old French beduin, from Arabic badāwīyīn, pl. of badawī, nomadic, from badw, desert nomads, Bedouins; see bdw in Semitic roots.]

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Examples

  • Donald P. Cole explains how the Bedouin have changed over the last century, and how the term Bedouin has evolved from a lifestyle to being an identity.

    Al-Ahram Weekly Online 2008

  • Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, barely forty and barely literate, a Bedouin from the Bani Hassan tribe, was until recently almost unknown outside his native Jordan.

    The Short, Violent Life of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi 2006

  • Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, barely forty and barely literate, a Bedouin from the Bani Hassan tribe, was until recently almost unknown outside his native Jordan.

    The Short, Violent Life of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi 2006

  • Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, barely forty and barely literate, a Bedouin from the Bani Hassan tribe, was until recently almost unknown outside his native Jordan.

    The Short, Violent Life of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi 2006

  • Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, barely forty and barely literate, a Bedouin from the Bani Hassan tribe, was until recently almost unknown outside his native Jordan.

    The Short, Violent Life of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi 2006

  • The Egyptian prisoners to be released in exchange for Mr Grapel are described as Bedouin and include three children.

    BBC News - Home 2011

  • Nabati poetry, the principal style used in the competition, is sometimes referred to as Bedouin poetry or the people's poetry.

    News from TheMediaLine.org. 2010

  • Nabati poetry, the principal style used in the competition, is sometimes referred to as Bedouin poetry or the people's poetry.

    News from TheMediaLine.org. 2010

  • Although the word Bedouin still evokes a tent-dwelling community forgotten by time in an inhospitable stretch of desert the reality is often quite different.

    Al-Ahram Weekly Online 2008

  • The only two things that I thought marginally unusual possessions for a Bedouin were a small collapsible brass telescope and the stub of a pencil.

    O Jerusalem King, Laurie R. 1999

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