“Algebra” was a derivation of “al-Jabr” – “calculation” in English – the shortened name for al-Khwarizmi’s book on solving equations via algebraic manipulation.
Another word which originated from him via a history of translation was “algorithm,” a version of al-Khwqrizmi’s own name. An algorithm, if you’re unfamiliar, is simply a series of steps, a “recipe” for solving a problem or achieving some goal. It frequently comes up in discussions of programming or computer science in the context of giving a computer a series of instructions for carrying out a task.
