Editing Saudi Arabia (section)

== Etymology ==
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{{See also|House of Saud|Arab (etymology)}}

Following the amalgamation of the [[Kingdom of Hejaz]] and [[Sultanate of Nejd|Nejd]], [[Ibn Saud|Abdulaziz]] issued a royal decree on 23 September 1932 naming the new state ''al-Mamlaka al-ʿArabiyya as-Suʿūdiyya'' ([[Arabic]] {{lang|ar|المملكة العربية السعودية}}), which is normally translated as "the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" in English,<ref name="US State Dept Saudi Arabia">{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3584.htm |title=Background Note: Saudi Arabia |publisher=U.S. State Department |access-date=21 May 2019 |archive-date=9 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609125313/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3584.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> but literally means "the '''Saudi Arab Kingdom'''",<ref>{{cite book|title=The Crisis of Islam |first=Bernard |last=Lewis |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-679-64281-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/crisisofislamhol00lewi/page/23 xx] |publisher=Modern Library |url=https://archive.org/details/crisisofislamhol00lewi }}</ref> or "the '''Saudi Kingdom of Arabia'''" (compare [[the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan]]).

The word "Saudi" is derived from the element ''as-Suʿūdīyya'' in the Arabic name of the country, which is a type of adjective known as a ''[[Nisba (onomastics)|nisba]],'' formed from the dynastic name of the Saudi royal family, the [[House of Saud|Al Saud]] ({{langx|ar|آل سعود}}). Its inclusion expresses the view that the country is the personal possession of the royal family.<ref>{{cite book |title=Saudi Arabia: the coming storm |author=Wilson, Peter W. |author2=Graham, Douglas |year=1994 |isbn=978-1-56324-394-3 |page=46 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_c9FOeeuewC&pg=PA46 |access-date=27 August 2015 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328143855/https://books.google.com/books?id=K_c9FOeeuewC&pg=PA46#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name= Kamrava>{{cite book |title=The Modern Middle East: A Political History Since the First World War |first=Mehran |last=Kamrava |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-520-26774-9 |page=67 |publisher=University of California Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CkLHZCzMEJkC&pg=PA67 |access-date=27 August 2015 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328143723/https://books.google.com/books?id=CkLHZCzMEJkC&pg=PA67#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Al Saud'' is an [[Arabic name]] formed by adding the word ''Al'', meaning "family of" or "House of",<ref>{{cite book|title=A Brief History of Saudi Arabia |first1=James |last1=Wynbrandt |first2=Fawaz A. |last2=Gerges |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8160-7876-9 |page=xvii |publisher=Infobase |url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofsa0000wynb }}</ref> to the personal name of an ancestor. In the case of Al Saud, this is [[Saud ibn Muhammad ibn Muqrin]], the father of the dynasty's 18th-century founder, [[Muhammad bin Saud]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The heritage of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |first1=Wahbi |last1=Hariri-Rifai |first2=Mokhless|last2=Hariri-Rifai|year=1990 |isbn=978-0-9624483-0-0 |page=26|publisher=GDG Exhibits Trust }}</ref>