Beduin

bedouin.
an arab of the desert, in asia or africa; nomadic arab.
a nomad; wanderer.
of, relating to, or characteristic of the bedouin.
contemporary examples

that’s actually a matter of intense debate with the druse and beduin communities.
it’s how badly she said it gershom gorenberg february 11, 2013

a large portion of beduin men and a much smaller portion of other palestinians volunteer.
it’s how badly she said it gershom gorenberg february 11, 2013

at best they are scenery, urban counterparts of the peasants and beduin whom moshe dayan romanticized in his memoirs.
what’s missing from the jerusalem day speil gershom gorenberg may 20, 2012

butler also seems to say that the non-jewish population consists of three groups: palestinians, druse and beduin.
it’s how badly she said it gershom gorenberg february 11, 2013

at the same time, butler’s comment defines druse and beduin as not being palestinian.
it’s how badly she said it gershom gorenberg february 11, 2013

historical examples

he drove the beduin and other marauders across the frontiers of the desert and pushed the war into syria itself.
the hitt-tes a. h. sayce

the plains of the coast, which are now given over to malaria and beduin thieves, were doubtless thickly populated and well sown.
patriarchal palestine archibald henry sayce

the amalekites had not as yet intermingled with the ishmaelites, and their beduin blood was still pure.
patriarchal palestine archibald henry sayce

noun
(pl) -ins, -in. a member of any of the nomadic tribes of arabs inhabiting the deserts of arabia, jordan, and syria, as well as parts of the sahara
a wanderer or rover
adjective
of or relating to the bedouins
wandering or roving
n.

c.1400, from old french bedüin (modern french bédouin), from colloquial arabic badawin “desert-dwellers,” plural of badawi, from badw “desert, camp.” the arabic plural suffix was mistaken for part of the word. a word from the crusades, it probably was lost in english and then reborrowed from french c.1600. as an adjective from 1844.