Etymology: Origin unknown.Various suggestions have been offered as to the origin of the word, but none is fully convincing. One suggestion derives the word from an unattested Arabic noun phrase *al-qāḍawī ‘that which belongs to the cadi or alcalde’, which could be either < al the + qāḍawī (adjective) of, belonging to, or relating to the cadi or alcalde ( < qāḍi cadi n. + -ī -i suffix2), or short for an apparently unattested noun phrase *al-qaṣr al-qāḍawī ‘the palace belonging to the cadi or alcalde’ ( < al the + qaṣr palace + al the + qāḍawī , adjective). However, although the underlying Arabic adjective is attested, it appears to be rare, and the necessary intermediate stages in this proposed etymology are unconvincing. Another suggestion is that the word may ultimately be derived < Arabic qā'id leader, ruler (see alcayde n.), but in this case, it is difficult to account for the formal difference between the English and Arabic words. A third suggestion derives the word from English Alcasava (c1600 or earlier; apparently < Maghribi Arabic al-qaṣba ( < al the + qaṣba kasbah n.), which is used in various contemporary geographical and historical works dealing with Arabic-speaking countries. One of these texts ( R. Cottington True Historicall Discourse of Muley Hamets Rising to the Three Kingdomes of Moruecos, Fes, and Sus (1609)), which almost certainly was one of Heywood's sources, uses Alcasava to denote the Moroccan house of Mulay Hamet (the father of Mulay Sheck, the sultan who appears as ‘Mullisheg’ in Heywood's play, and is the speaker of the passages in both quots.). However, this suggestion is unconvincing on phonological grounds. Since all etymological suggestions deriving the word from Arabic encounter difficulties, it has alternatively been suggested (but without supporting evidence) that the word may ultimately be < Turkish or Persian. It is possible that it may have been formed by Heywood in imitation of Arabic noun phrases beginning with the definite article al.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2018).
n.1631