Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A tall slender tower attached to a mosque, having one or more projecting balconies from which a muezzin or a recording of a muezzin summons the people to prayer.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In Moslem arch., a slender and lofty turret typically rising by several stages or stories, and surrounded by one or more projecting balconies, characteristic of Mohammedan mosques, and corresponding to the belfry of a Christian church.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Arch.) A slender, lofty tower attached to a mosque and surrounded by one or more projecting balconies, from which the summon to prayer is cried by the muezzin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the tall slender tower of an Islamic mosque, from which the muezzin recites the adhan (call to prayer)

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun slender tower with balconies

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Turkish minārat, from Arabic manāra, lamp; see nwr in Semitic roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Turkish minare, from Arabic منارة (manaara(t)), "lighthouse"). Entered into English around 1682.

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Examples

Comments

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  • why did i add this word on my list?

    November 30, 2007

  • Because it's a really cool word? Just a guess!

    November 30, 2007