Word origins

• KhoshabaA surname from Arabic.
• khoumsA subdivision of the Mauritanian ouguiya. 5 khoums equal one ouguiya.
• khubzAny Middle Eastern flatbread such as pita bread.
• khulaA form of divorce initiated by the wife.
• Khuriya MuriyaA series of historically disputed islands off the coast of Oman.
• kifayaEnough!
• Kingdom of LibyaA former constitutional monarchy in North Africa, existing from 1951 until its overthrow in 1969.
• kiratA Middle Eastern unit of area, ¹⁄₂₄ of a feddan.
• kirbehAn animal-skin bag used to carry water in the Middle East.
• kisraA thin fermented bread made in Sudan.
• kiswahThe cloth that covers the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
• Kitab al-AzifSynonym of Necronomicon.
• kitabiOne of the People of the Book.
• kitmanThe deliberate concealment of information or beliefs, such as hiding one's faith to avoid persecution.
• KobanîA city in northern Syria.
• Kochabβ Ursae Minoris, the second-brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor, formerly a dual North Star with Pherkad from about 1000 BC to about AD 300.
• KodokA town in the northeastern South Sudanese state of Upper Nile, once an important trading station.
• kufiA type of brimless, rounded cap associated with various African nations or ethnicities.
• KufraThe largest district of Libya.
• kunyaAn epithet in Arabic names, typically deriving from the name of the bearer's first-born son.
• kurbashA whip or strap about a yard in length.
• Kutub al-SittahThe group of six collections of hadiths (sayings or acts of Muhammad) which form part of the official canon of Sunni Islam.
• lahohA spongy, pancake-like bread originating in Djibouti, Somaliland, Somalia, and Yemen.
• lakharajOf lands: paying no kharaj or rent.
• LaredjA male given name from Arabic.
• Laylatul QadrA night during Ramadan that commemorates the initial revelation of the Qur'an, usually on the 27th of Ramadan.
• lebanCoagulated sour milk diluted with water.
• lithamA veil of North Africa that covers the lower face.
• liwanA long, narrow-fronted hall or vaulted portal found in Levantine homes, often open to the outside.
• loubiaA North African bean stew, typically made with white beans, tomatoes, spices, and sometimes meat, or to beans themselves in some regions.
• LoujainA female given name from Arabic.
• LusailA city in Al Daayen, Qatar.
• LuwatiAn Indo-Aryan language spoken in Northern Oman near Muscat.
• MaaradA kind of Egyptian cotton.
• MabahithThe secret police of the Ministry of the Interior in Saudi Arabia.
• Ma'barThe Coromandel coast of India.
• mabkharaA traditional censer in the Arab world and Turkey, usually having a square pedestal base or legs with inward-sloping sides which support a square cup with outward-sloping sides.
• maddahArabic diacritic similar in appearance to a tilde. Over an alif (آ (ʔā) "alif maddah"), it indicates glottal stop, /ʔ/, followed by a long /aː/. The diacritic is not used separately, only over alif. Alif maddah can appear in the beginning: آسِف (ʔāsif) or in the middle of a word: قُرْآن (qurʔān).
• mahmalSynonym of kajawah (“a litter etc. borne by a camel”).
• mahramA family member who is haram to marry.
• majounA paste originating in Morocco, made from marijuana and honey, and ingested as a recreational drug.
• makdousA Levantine dish of oil-cured stuffed eggplants.
• maktabA traditional Islamic elementary school, primarily teaching literacy and the Qur'an.
• MalufA surname from Arabic.
• MamduhA male given name from Arabic that means "[a] praised [person]", or someone who is always mentioned in a positive way.
• manakishA Levantine Arabic food resembling a pizza and consisting of dough topped with thyme, cheese, or ground meat.
• ManbijA city in Syria.
• mansafA dish of lamb, rice and dried yogurt, popular in Jordan, the Levant, and Arab countries of the Persian Gulf.
• MaqdisiSynonym of Jerusalemitein Palestinian contexts.
• maqlubaA traditional Levantine dish of meat, rice, and fried vegetables, cooked in a pot which is then flipped upside down prior to serving.
• maqsurahAn enclosure, box, or screen near the mihrab in a mosque, typically reserved for a Muslim ruler and his entourage, and originally designed to shield him from potential assassins during prayer.
• MarethA town and commune in Tunisia.
• marhalaA day's march (in Arab contexts).
• marjaiyaThe supreme religious body of ayatollahs in Shi'ism.
• MaryanaA female given name from Arabic or from the Slavic languages [in turn from Hebrew], variant of Mariana.
• masdarArabic verbal noun, also used in Georgian grammar (მასდარი)
• masgoufA traditional Mesopotamian dish of seasoned grilled carp, considered the national dish of Iraq.
• mashadahA kind of headcloth, a keffiyeh.
• mashallahExpressing the speaker's gratitude for a blessing or their recognition of divine intervention in its occurrence. God willed it.
• mashqA calligraphic form of Arabic.
• MashreqThe geographic region consisting of Arabic-speaking lands in eastern Africa and western Asia, from Egypt and the Sudan eastwards.
• Masjid al-HaramA grand mosque enclosing the Kaaba in Mecca and the courtyard surrounding it containing the Black Stone, the Well of Zamzam and the Station of Abraham.
• mastabaA wide stone bench built into the wall of a house, shop etc. in the Middle East.
• mathnawiA kind of poem written in rhyming couplets, usually with a meter of ten or eleven syllables; found in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish and Urdu cultures.
• MayyunSynonym of Perim (“volcanic island off Yemen”).
• MebarakA surname.
• Medjerda RiverA river in North Africa.
• meghliA Lebanese rice pudding.
• MegrezDelta Ursae Majoris, a star in the constellation of Ursa Major and part of the Plough.
• Menzel BourguibaA town in the extreme north of Tunisia.
• MerwanA male given name from Arabic.
• meshrabiyehThe latticed projecting windows of private houses, in Islamic architecture.
• meskitSynonym of mosque.
• mihaffaVarious forms of covered animal-borne litters, chiefly for female passengers.
• MihnaA religious inquisition launched by the caliph al-Ma'mun in the ninth century, which attempted to enforce the minority view that the Qur'an was a creation of God rather than being coeternal with God.
• mihrabA niche in a mosque that indicates the qibla (direction of Mecca), and into which the imam prays.
• mijwizA type of woodwind instrument with two pipes used in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine
• millahAny variety of religion, except the religion of Islam.
• minbarA pulpit in a mosque, usually shaped like a small tower, where the imam stands to deliver sermons.
• minhibbakjiIn the Arab World, a loyalist
• misbahaA set of Islamic prayer beads.
• miskeenPoor, pathetic, innocent; (by extension) not affiliated with criminal gangs.
• MisrataA port city on the Mediterranean, in northwestern Libya.
• miswakA chewstick used particularly by Muslims for cleaning the teeth, made from twigs of trees of species Salvadora persica.
• misyarA temporary marriage (wedlease), especially in Sunni Islam.
• mithqalA unit of weight in the Islamic world, usually taken as equivalent to 4.25 grams, used especially to weigh precious metals.
• mizmarA traditional Arabic wind instrument with a double or single reed.
• MorcosA surname from Arabic.
• mubahAllowed; permitted.
• mudarabahA partnership or trust financing contract where one partner gives money to another for investing in a commercial enterprise.
• MudathirA male given name from Arabic.
• mudhifA traditional reed house made by the Madan people in the swamps of southern Iraq.
• mudiriyahAn administrative subdivision in parts of the Middle East.
• mufassirAn author of a tafsir.
• muhadditha scholar specialized in the study, collection, and interpretation of hadiths.
• MuhakkimaAn early faction of the Kharijites who seceded after the arbitration between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiya I, asserting the slogan “Judgment belongs only to God.”
• Muharram al-HaramSynonym of Muharram.
• muhtasibAn official appointed to supervise bazaars and trade in the medieval Islamic countries.
• mujtahidA lawyer entitled to exercise ijtihad.
• mukhannathAn effeminate man in the early Arab world; sometimes a performer of music or dance, etc.