"Taliban" entered English in the late 20th century as a direct borrowing from Pashto, one of the official languages of Afghanistan. The Pashto word "ṭālibān" (طالبان) is the plural form of "ṭālib," meaning "student," which itself originates from the Arabic root "ṭ-l-b," conveying the core idea of "seeking" or "asking." The group's name literally translates to "students," specifically referring to religious students educated in madrasas (Islamic schools) along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. In English usage, the term has evolved from a simple descriptor into a proper noun denoting the specific political and military organization, shedding its original generic plural sense.

The word is a loanword from Pashto, an Iranian language. It is not productively segmented into meaningful morphemes in English. In its source language, it is the plural of "ṭālib," meaning "student," from Arabic "ṭālib" (seeker, student).