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Saracens)
- For the English rugby union team, see Saracens F.C.
The term Saracen comes from Greek sarakenoi, which is itself derived from an Arabic word, شرقيين sharqiyyin ("easterners"). This word was used in the early centuries of the Roman Empire to describe a nomadic Arab tribe from the Sinai Desert.
Later the Greek-speaking subjects of the Empire applied it to all Arabs. After the rise of Islam, and especially at the time of the Crusades, its usage was extended to all Muslims, particularly those in Sicily and southern Italy. In older Western historical literature, the term "Saracen Empire" was often used to refer to the Arab Caliphate under the rule of the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties.
In Christian polemical writing against Islam, the name was made to mean "those empty of Sarah" or "not from Sarah," as Arabs were, in Biblical genealogies, descended from Hagar.
Saracen has also commonly been applied to Mediterranean pirates.
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