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Glite Dictionary
Al Qahira

Al Qahira

1 8.1
The capital and largest city of Egypt where the Nile meets the sea
  • proper noun
: El Cairo
  • The Nile River flows through Al Qahira, providing life to the city's millions of residents.

Examples

  • Many travelers are fascinated by the rich history of Al Qahira and its ancient monuments.

  • The museums and vibrant marketplaces in Al Qahira make it a top destination in Africa.

  • I visited Al Qahira last summer.

  • Have you ever been to Al Qahira?

  • Many travelers are fascinated by the rich history of Al Qahira and its ancient monuments.

  • The museums and vibrant marketplaces in Al Qahira make it a top destination in Africa.

  • The Nile River flows through Al Qahira, providing life to the city's millions of residents.

Synonyms

Cairo
vsAl Qahira
136 1.6

A large capital city of Egypt on the Nile near the pyramids

is the official Arabic name rather than the English form
El Qahira
vsAl Qahira
8.6

The Arabic name for Cairo, the capital of Egypt and the largest city in Africa

is the official Arabic spelling used by authorities

Surface Forms

Al Qahira main

Morphology

Al + Qahira

This is an Arabic proper name (Al Qahira) whose referent (the city of Cairo) is not derivable from knowing the parts. Even if a learner knew 'al' as a definite article and 'Qahira' as a lexical item, the mapping from that literal phrase to the modern place-name 'Cairo' is arbitrary and requires lexical/world knowledge, so the meaning is not predictable from the constituents.

Etymology

Al Qahira is the Arabic name for Cairo and comes from the word Qahira, which means 'the conqueror'. One popular story says the planet Mars was high in the sky when the city was started, and because Mars was linked with 'the conqueror', the new city was named Al Qahira, which is why this name refers to Cairo today.