The article deals with one of the subgroups of the thematic group “Clothing and household items” of the vocabulary of the Arabic origins, which includes Arabic loanwords with the meaning “fabric, material”: атлас, бязь , кармази́н , кумáч , мохе́р , муа́р , нубýк, сатин . The lexicographical analysis allowed showing the development of the semantics of the Arabic loanwords in the Russian language. Based on the texts of the National corpus of the Russian language, the processes of functioning of Arabic loanwords in Russian speech are described in the article.