Page "Taliban" Paragraph 4

The word Taliban is Pashto,, meaning " students ", the plural of ṭālib.

This is a loanword from Arabic ,< ref name =" Arabic Dictionary "> plus the Indo-Iranian plural ending-an ( the Arabic plural being, whereas is a dual form with the incongruous meaning, to Arabic speakers, of " two students ").

Since becoming a loanword in English, Taliban, besides a plural noun referring to the group, has also been used as a singular noun referring to an individual.

For example, John Walker Lindh has been referred to as " an American Taliban ", rather than " an American Talib ".

In the English language newspapers of Pakistan the word talibans is often used when referring to more than one taliban.

The spelling ' Taliban ' has come to predominate over ' Taleban ' in English.