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alarife

master builder, architect (old-fashioned or regional)maestro de obras, arquitecto (uso antiguo o regional)

Comes from Arabic

العَرِيف

al-ʿarīf

“the knowledgeable one, the expert”«el entendido, el experto»

Arabic today says

مُهَنْدِس مِعْمَارِيّ

muhandis miʿmārī

Root

ع ر ف

ʿ-r-f

The article

Spanish kept the Arabic article al- glued to the word.

The story

The ʿarīf was the expert in a trade, the one who "knows" (root ʿ-r-f, "to know"). The ʿ, which has no Spanish equivalent, simply disappeared.El ʿarīf era el perito de un oficio, el que «sabe» (raíz ʿ-r-f, «conocer»). La ʿ, sin equivalente en castellano, simplemente desapareció.

In a sentence

Los alarifes moriscos levantaron esta iglesia.

Morisco master builders raised this church.

بَنَى البَنَّاؤُونَ المُورِيسْكِيُّونَ هَذِهِ الكَنِيسَة.