{i} nomadic tribe that lived on the Syrian border of the Roman Empire (History); Arab, member of a Semitic people of the Middle East and northern Africa; Moslem (esp. during the Crusades)
a Muslim - used in the Middle Ages (Saracenus, from Sarakenos). In the Middle Ages, any person Arab, Turk, or other who professed the religion of Islam. The name spread into western Europe through the Byzantines and the Crusaders. It was also applied to nomadic people of the deserts between Syria and Arabia