[1570–80; ‹ NL ‹ Gk árabis (s. arabid-) Arabian mustard (deriv. with arab-, as in Arabía Arabia, Áraps Arab, etc.); prob. applied to the plant because it grows in rocky or sandy soil]This word is first recorded in the period 1570–80. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: assimilate, huddle, pigeonhole, refraction, skeleton