The Philippines is one of the world’s worst contributors to marine plastic pollution, with an estimated 0.28 to 0.75 million tonnes of plastic entering the oceans annually.

The English word ambassador comes from the Old French embassator, which in turn is thought to be derived from the Latin ambactus, meaning “servant.”

Amarillo, Texas, gets its name from the Spanish word for “yellow,” though its pronunciation differs from the original Spanish.

Your car’s battery is most likely charged by an alternator. Before alternators became popular in the 1960s, automobiles used DC dynamo generators with commutators.

Altair is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila. Its name is derived from the Arabic phrase an-nasr at-ta’ir, meaning “the flying eagle.”

The name “alpargata” for the titular shoes comes from Spanish, and while it has been influenced by Arabic, the exact origin is debated. Some sources suggest that the term was adopted by Arabic speakers during the Middle Ages and then reintroduced to Spanish.

When Palestinians were forced from their homes to make way for the new state of Israel, the event was called the Nakba, which is Arabic for “the catastrophe.”