Ouled Nail
/ˈuːlɛd ˈnʌɪl/ /ˈuːlɪd ˈnʌɪl/(also Ouled-Nail, Ouled Naïl, Ouled-Naïl)
noun
1A member of a nomadic Algerian Arab people now mainly inhabiting a mountainous area of northern Algeria on the edge of the Sahara Desert. Chiefly in unchanged plural.
2An Algerian Arab woman who works as a dancing girl in the cities of North Africa. Also (occasionally): the dance performed by such a dancing girl.
adjective
Of, relating to, or designating a North African dancing girl or the Algerian Arab people from which most such girls originated.
Origin
Mid 19th century; earliest use found in The Times. From French Ouled Naïl from Maghribi Arabic Ulēd Nā'il, lit. ‘children of Nā'il’, the name of an Algerian Arab people from which many dancing girls originated.