Tuareg

noun

Tua·​reg ˈtwä-ˌreg 

variants or less commonly Touareg

plural Tuareg or Tuaregs also Touareg or Touaregs

: a member of a nomadic people of the central and western Sahara and along the middle Niger from Tombouctou to Nigeria

Examples of Tuareg in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The chairs’ wavy backrests echo the undulating weave of the antique Tuareg carpet underfoot. —Laura May Todd, Architectural Digest, 6 Jan. 2025

In 2017, the band spent a big chunk of the year on the road as the opening act for Tinariwen, the storied Tuareg rockers from Mali. —Andrew Gilbert, The Mercury News, 27 Dec. 2024

While Tuareg rebels and JNIM were quick to celebrate their success, Mali and Wagner sought to downplay their losses. —Christopher Michael Faulkner, The Conversation, 9 Aug. 2024

This includes Tuareg mats, woven from natural fibres by semi-nomadic people in northern Africa, which Zarib has a special interest in. —Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 8 Dec. 2024

Moctar and his band gallop through a tightly edited collection informed by years of live performance, leveraging their international stature to call for Tuareg cultural pride and African self-determination on the world stage. —Pitchfork, 3 Dec. 2024

The lounge-y living room features custom Pierre Frey Teddy Mohair drapes in Mousse, a custom sofa in black velvet, Audo’s Tired Man chair in chocolate sheepskin, a vintage Moroccan Tuareg rug, and Difane’s Estela lamp. —Kathryn Romeyn, Architectural Digest, 30 Oct. 2024

Dilara Sage Green, also taking influence from Tuareg rugs, will make any room feel like a relaxing escape. —Christianna Silva, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 July 2024

Five months ago, Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar released a new album called Funeral for Justice, a furious, frenetic fusion of psychedelia, hard rock, and West African desert blues that left critics across the globe stunned. —Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 2 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from North African Bedouin Arabic ṭwārəg, plural of ṭārgi, perhaps an adjective derivative from "Targa," alleged to be a Berber name for Fezzan, region of southwest Libya

Note: This etymology is from the article Ṭawāiḳ by the Berber and Tuareg specialist Karl-Gustav Prasse in Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition. A similar origin is suggested by Heinrich Barth in Reisen und Entdeckungen in Nord- und Central-Afrika in den Jahren 1849 bis 1855, Band 1 (Gotha, 1857), p. 246.

First Known Use

1821, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

Tuareg

noun

Tua·​reg ˈtwä-ˌreg 

plural Tuareg or Tuaregs

: a member of a nomadic people of Africa