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minaret

minaret

8 8.4
A tall, thin tower at a mosque where someone calls people to prayer
  • noun
  • /ˌmɪnəˈrɛt/
translation icon : minarete
  • Residents care well for the gardens and landscaping around this fabulous building of curves, domes, and minarets.
  • minaret of the mosque
  • domes and minarets
  • minarets and towers

We wandered away from the square and found the city's oldest and tallest minaret, we think.

Examples

  • The mosque is hidden behind shops, and its dome and minaret cower beneath the roofline of neighboring older houses.

    Academic text (2003)
  • A huge Islamic crescent is being pulled down from the minaret of a mosque.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • This is a minaret built in almost the same kind of a pattern and technology also.

  • Had you ever seen The Dove and the Minaret before?

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Meet me in the courtyard beside the fountain when the moon is above the minaret.

  • We wandered away from the square and found the city's oldest and tallest minaret, we think.

  • Its mosaics were covered with plaster, and four minarets were erected outside.

    Academic text (2001)
  • The 800-year-old Mudhafaria Minaret is covered in political graffiti from the campaigns preceding the December elections.

    Academic text (2006)
  • The crackle of static then, and I'm awake as the call to prayer explodes from the minaret loudspeaker.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • The muezzin stood at the top of the minaret to call the faithful to prayer.

Synonyms

tower
vsminaret
547 1.0

A tall, narrow thing that looks like a building

is part of a mosque with balconies used to call the faithful to prayer

How Tall

skyscraper
63 3.0
tower
547 1.0
minaret
8 8.4
turret
12 7.2
cupola
  • Specialized
3 8.7

Surface Forms

minaret singular
minarets plural

Etymology

Minaret comes from the Arabic word manāra, which means 'lighthouse' or 'beacon'. Think of a minaret as a tall beacon on a mosque: it is high so the call to prayer can be seen and heard across the city, which is why the word now means the tall tower beside a mosque.