The Spanish word 'zafra', which refers specifically to the sugarcane harvest, has its roots in Arabic. It comes from Andalusi Arabic 'safra', which meant both 'journey' and 'harvest season'. This in turn originated from Classical Arabic 'safrah', which meant 'journey'. The semantic evolution from 'journey' to 'harvest season' and finally to 'sugarcane harvest' likely reflects the seasonal nature of harvesting work and perhaps the journey or campaign-like nature of the harvest season.

While 'zafra' is quite specific in its meaning of sugarcane harvest, there aren't many commonly used Spanish words that share its Arabic etymology. This is because it represents a specialized agricultural term that entered Spanish directly from Arabic during the period of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula.

There aren't any common English words directly related to 'zafra', as this term comes from Arabic and entered Spanish during the period of Muslim influence in Spain. English, being a Germanic language with heavy French and Latin influence, didn't receive this particular Arabic borrowing.