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- KETUBAHA traditional Jewish marriage contract that outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom in relation to the bride.
- KHAMSINA hot, dry wind, common in Egypt, Sudan and the Levant towards the end of March and April, which blows (for about 50 days each year) from the desert, bringing with it hot weather a
- KHANJARA kind of dagger used in certain Arabian countries.
- KHARIFOf crops: cultivated and harvested during the monsoon season.
- KHARIFSOf crops: cultivated and harvested during the monsoon season.
- KHATA shrub, Catha edulis, whose leaves are used as a mild stimulant when chewed or brewed as tea; also a drug produced from this plant.
- KHIMARA long veil worn by Muslim women as part of hijab.
- KHORA swampy depression in Middle Eastern countries.
- KHOUMSA subdivision of the Mauritanian ouguiya. 5 khoums equal one ouguiya.
- KIBBEHA form of dumpling, from the Levant, made of spiced lamb and bulgur wheat.
- KIRBEHAn animal-skin bag used to carry water in the Middle East.
- KISMETFate; a predetermined or unavoidable destiny.
- KLEZMERA Jewish folk musician.
- KOHLA dark powder, usually powdered stibnite (an antimony ore), used as eye makeup, especially in Eastern countries.
- KOSHERFit for use or consumption, in accordance with Jewish law (especially relating to food).
- KULAA tower, turret or steeple in Southeastern Europe erected during the period of Ottoman domination on the area.
- KULFIA flavoured frozen dessert of South Asia, made from milk and resembling ice cream.
- LACKEYA footman, a liveried male servant.
- LAMEDThe twelfth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).
- LAVAThe molten rock ejected by a volcano from a vent such as a crater or fissure; magma that has breached the surface of the earth.
- LAZARSynonym of leper: a person suffering from Hansen's disease; a person suffering any contagious disease requiring similar isolation.
- LECHAYIM"To life": a Jewish drinking toast.
- LECHAYIMS"To life": a Jewish drinking toast.
- LENSAn object, usually made of glass, that focuses or defocuses the light that passes through it.
- LEPRASynonym of leprosy.
- LEPRASSynonym of leprosy.
- LEPROSYAn infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, gradually producing nerve damage and patches of skin necrosis and historically handled by permanently quarantini
- LEVIATHANA vast sea monster of tremendous strength, either imaginary or real, described as the most dangerous and powerful creature in the ocean.
- LIRAThe basic unit of currency in Turkey.
- LOOFAHAny of several tropical vines of the genus Luffa, having almost cylindrical fruit with a spongy, fibrous interior; the dishcloth gourd.
- LUTEA fretted stringed instrument, similar to the guitar, having a bowl-shaped body or soundbox; any of a wide variety of chordophones with a pear-shaped body and a neck whose upper su
- MACABRERepresenting or personifying death.
- MACHZORA prayerbook for a Jewish holiday.
- MADRASAA school for any kind of teaching, at any grade level; usually specifically a school that teaches Islamic theology.
- MAGAZINEA nonacademic, periodical publication which consists of articles by multiple writers on some broad topic or theme. A radio or television show where each episode comprises a variety
- MANCUSA gold coin used in medieval Europe.
- MAQUILASynonym of medio, half-celemin, a traditional Spanish unit of dry measure equivalent to about 2.3 L.
- MARABOUTA Muslim holy man or mystic, especially in parts of North Africa.
- MARAVEDIA former Spanish coin and unit of currency, originally issued in gold but later in silver and copper, discontinued in 1848.
- MARCASITEThe orthorhombic form of iron disulfide, FeS2, occurring as yellow crystals.
- MARZIPANA confection made from a paste of almonds, sugar and egg white as a binder.
- MASJIDA mosque.
- MATTRESSA pad on which a person can recline and sleep, usually having an inner section of coiled springs covered with foam or other cushioning material then enclosed with cloth fabric.
- MATZOThin, unleavened bread in Jewish cuisine.
- MATZOSplural of matzo
- MAULVIAn imam; a Muslim doctor of law.
- MAVENAn expert in a given field; also, a person who is interested in and knowledgeable about a particular activity or thing; an aficionado.
- MEDINAThe traditional, older or non-European area of a North African town.
- MENORAHA holy candelabrum with seven branches used in the Temple of Jerusalem.
- MESSIAHThe one who is ordained by God to lead the people of Israel, believed by Christians and Muslims to be Jesus Christ.
- METICALThe currency of Mozambique, divided into 100 centavos.
- MHORRA large gazelle native to the Sahara desert, Nanger dama, formerly Gazella dama.
- MIHRABA niche in a mosque that indicates the qibla (direction of Mecca), and into which the imam prays.
- MIKVEHA ritual bath in which various Jewish purifications are performed.
- MINARETThe tall slender tower of an Islamic mosque, from which the muezzin recites the adhan (call to prayer).
- MINBARA pulpit in a mosque, usually shaped like a small tower, where the imam stands to deliver sermons.
- MITZVAHAny of the 613 commandments of Jewish law.
- MOCHAA coffee drink with chocolate syrup added, or a serving thereof.
- MOCKERYThe action of mocking; ridicule, derision.
- MOFUSSILOriginally, the regions of India outside the three East India Company capitals of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras; hence, parts of a country outside an urban centre; the regions, rural
- MOHAIRYarn or fabric made from the hair of the angora goat, often as mixed with cotton or other materials.
- MOLOCHAny of species Moloch horridus of Australian lizards, sole species of the genus Moloch.
- MORTISEA hole that is made to receive a tenon so as to form a joint.
- MOSHAVAn Israeli town or settlement, especially a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah.
- MOSQUEA place of worship for Muslims, often having at least one minaret; a masjid.
- MUDIRA local official of the Ottoman Empire who oversaw a nahiye.
- MUFTIA Muslim scholar and interpreter of sharia law, who can deliver a fatwa.
- MUJAHIDEENplural of mujahid
- MULLAHAn honorific title for a scholar of theology and sharia law.
- NABKEither of two thorny shrublike trees, of the genus Ziziphus, from North Africa and the Middle East; Ziziphus spina-christi is supposed to be the plant from which Christ's crown of
- NABLAA Hebrew stringed instrument.
- NABOBAn Indian ruler within the Mogul empire.
- NACARATA shade of bright red-orange.
- NACHESA feeling of contentment at another person's successes.
- NACREA shellfish which contains mother-of-pearl.
- NADIRThe point of the celestial sphere, directly opposite the zenith; inferior pole of the horizon; point of the celestial sphere directly under the place of observation.
- NAKERA small drum, of Arabic origin, and the forebear of the European kettledrum.
- NAMUSA concept of virtue and honor within a family, typically relating to chastity of female family members.
- NAWABA Muslim official in South Asia acting as a provincial deputy ruler under the Mughal empire; a local governor.
- NIQABA veil which covers the face (except for the eyes), worn by some Muslim women as a part of sartorial hijab.
- NOBLEAn aristocrat; one of aristocratic blood.
- NOOGIEAn act of putting a person in a headlock and rubbing one's knuckles on the other person's head, often a playful gesture of affection when done lightly.
- NORIAA treadwheel with attached buckets, used to raise and deposit water.
- NUCHALThe back of the neck.
- OASISA spring of fresh water, surrounded by a fertile region of vegetation, in a desert.
- OMERA former small Hebrew unit of dry volume equal to about 2.3 L or 2.1 quarts.
- OMLAHA staff of native clerks or officials in colonial Bengal.
- PROSELYTEOne who has converted to a religion or doctrine, especially a gentile converted to Judaism.
- PRUTAHA bronze coin, equivalent to the Roman quadrans, used in ancient Palestine.
- PUSSA cat.
- PYRAMIDAn ancient massive construction with a square or rectangular base and four triangular sides meeting in an apex, such as those built as tombs in Egypt or as bases for temples in Mes
- QADIA judge who is trained in and practices Islamic law.
- QANATAn underground conduit, between vertical shafts, that leads water from the interior of a hill to villages in the valley
- QASIDAAn Arabic or Persian elegiac monorhyme poem, usually having a tripartite structure.
- QIBLAThe direction in which Muslims face while praying, currently determined as the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca.
- QOPHThe nineteenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).
- QURSHA monetary unit in Saudi Arabia equivalent to a twentieth of a rial.
- RABBIA Jewish scholar or teacher of halacha (Jewish law), capable of making halachic decisions.
- RABISpring.
- RACAHOUTA Middle Eastern dish made from acorns.