Skip to content
Ojalá
Words
Certain: The standard etymology in the RAE dictionary and in Corriente; no serious doubt.Power & war · Specialized

algarada

uproar, commotion; formerly, a swift raid by troopstumulto, alboroto; antiguamente, incursión rápida de tropas

Comes from Arabic

الغَارَة

al-ghāra

“the raid, the surprise attack”«la incursión, el ataque por sorpresa»

Arabic today says

غَارَة

ghāra

And it still does

Root

غ و ر

gh-w-r

The article

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

The story

From algara (al-ghāra) plus the suffix -ada; the gh was heard as g. In Arabic today an air raid is ghāra jawwiyya.De algara (al-ghāra) con el sufijo -ada; la gh se oyó como g. En árabe se dice hoy ghāra jawwiyya, «ataque aéreo».

More from “Power & war”