The term used by the Bedouins for themselves. Today, in international usage, it means “of pure race, genuine, noble”, and it replaces the word ‘atiq (noble), which was the word originally used in Arab terminology.
Additionally, the following must be noted:
The term “Asil” Arabian is today no longer identical with the terms “pure-bred” Arabian, Arabian, and Arabian horse, because internationally the original definition of purity - a pure-bred Arabian is a horse that must trace all of its ancestors to the Bedouin breeding of the Arabian peninsula - cannot be maintained due to the crossbreeding with other breeds. In order to characterize the Asil Arabians (less than 2 % of all horses accepted internationally as pure-bred Arabians) and to safeguard them in the interests of their preservation, we now use the term “Asil Arabian”.