El Giza
- proper noun
:
El Giza
- The Great Pyramid of El Giza is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Examples
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The Great Pyramid of Khufu is located in El Giza.
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Tourists flock to El Giza every year to admire the three Great Pyramids.
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Archaeologists have made significant discoveries at the site of El Giza.
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Tourists flock to El Giza every year to marvel at the Sphinx and the pyramids.
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Have you ever visited El Giza?
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The Great Pyramid of El Giza is a marvel of ancient engineering.
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Many documentaries have been made about the history of El Giza.
Synonyms
15
4.4
A city in Egypt by the Nile famous for the three large pyramids and the Sphinx
A city in Egypt near Cairo famous for the large pyramids and the Sphinx
Surface Forms
Morphology
El + Giza
The phrase is a place name whose head noun 'Giza' already identifies the referent (the Egyptian city), while 'El' functions as a definite article (a form of Arabic 'al') and does not change the referential meaning. Because the composition is simply article + place name and this pattern is cross-linguistically familiar, a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily recognise it as the city Giza.
Etymology
El Giza may come from an old word for a flat, high area called a 'plateau' where people built the big pyramids and the Sphinx. That's why El Giza now names the famous site with the Great Pyramids.