An Egyptian peasant or agricultural laborer, especially one who farms the land along the Nile River.
From Arabic fellaḥ (فلاح), meaning 'peasant' or 'tiller of soil,' derived from the root falaha meaning 'to till' or 'to cultivate.' The word entered English in the 19th century through colonial contact with Egypt.
The fellaheen were the backbone of Egyptian civilization for millennia, but their lives were often invisible to history—the word itself is more commonly used in historical texts about colonialism than by the people's own descendants today.
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