Where does “Sahel” come from?
Sahel comes from Arabic sāḥil, meaning coast or shore.
Sahel (English): between the Sahara to the north and a more humid zone (Sudan) to the south
Definitions
- between the Sahara to the north and a more humid zone (Sudan) to the south
Ancestry of “Sahel”, step by step
Sahel traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Ancient Greek Ἄνθρωπος
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ancient Greek | Ἄνθρωπος | human being; person (as differentiated from gods, beasts, etc.) |
| 2 | Latin | -us | suffix forming adjectives from nouns, verbs,... |
| 3 | Old Latin | -os | accusative masculine plural of -us |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | -os | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -ós | Creates agent nouns from verb stems, denoting... |
via Arabic سَاحِل
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arabic | سَاحِل | coast; boundary, coast; border of the desert |