Where Did All These “al-” Words Come From?

July 29, 2026

Portuguese is full of words that begin with al:

• a alfacelettuceCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
• a almofadapillowCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
• o alfaiatetailorCommunity
• a aldeiasmall town, villageCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
• o algarismoalgorismCommunity
• o álcoolalcoholCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine
• o algodãocottonCommunity
• a alcatifacarpetCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine

There’s a reason for that, and it goes back about 800 years.

From 711 to 1249, much of the península ibéricaiberian peninsulaCommunity was under Moorish rule. Muslim forces crossed over from North Africa in 711 and took most of the peninsula within a decade. Pushing them back out took the Christian kingdoms another five centuries, and in Portugal the last stretch fell in 1249, when Afonso III took the Algarve. Those five centuries of contact left marks on farming and irrigation, on building, on cooking and on the words for all of it. When os mourosthe MoorsCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Plural, Masculine were eventually pushed out of the peninsula, they left many things behind, including their lexicon.

In Arabic, “al” means “the”, so that article stuck around when Portuguese borrowed these words. It’s often one of the easiest ways to spot a word of Arabic origin, but it isn’t a hard-and-fast rule. altotallCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Singular, Masculine , o alunostudentCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine and alegrecheerfulCommunity all come from Latin.

Arabic influence goes way beyond the “al” words, though. Here are a few more that may be less obvious:

• o açúcarsugarCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine (from sukkar)
• o azeiteolive oilCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine (from zayt)
• o azulejotileCommunity (from az-zulaij)
• o arrozriceCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine (from ar-ruzz)
• a laranjaorangeCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine (from naranj)
• o xadrezchessCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine (from ash-shatranj)
• o sofáSofaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine (from suffa)
• o bairroneighbourhoodCommunity (from barri / barr)
• Oxalá!Hopefully!Community Slow audio Play audio Interjection (from inshallah)

Did any of these surprise you?