The presentation will focus on the construction of three concepts of tolerance in Arabic in the second half of the nineteenth century. Tolerance became a powerful concept towards the end of the nineteenth century after its association with other basic concepts such as progress and civilization (taqaddum, tamaddun). With this connection, the concept of tolerance became fundamental in the ideological structures developed in the Arab region, including national, liberal, democratic, and socialist thinking. The presentation will focus on the history of "tolerance", analyze the anatomy of the concept on a synchronic and diachronic axis, and will present its construction in three case studies.