minaret

[ min-uh-ret, min-uh-ret ]

noun

1. a lofty, often slender, tower or turret attached to a mosque, surrounded by or furnished with one or more balconies, from which the muezzin calls the people to prayer.

minaret

/ ˌmɪnəˈrɛt; ˈmɪnəˌrɛt /

noun

1. a slender tower of a mosque having one or more balconies from which the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer
2. any structure resembling this

Derived Forms

• ˌminaˈreted, adjective

Other Words From

• mina·reted adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of minaret¹

1675–85; < French minaret, Spanish minarete, or Italian minaretto ≪ Arabic manārah lighthouse, perhaps akin to nār fire

Word History and Origins

Origin of minaret¹

C17: from French, from Turkish, from Arabic manārat lamp, from nār fire

Example Sentences

The minaret of every mosque they passed was toppled, he said.

From Los Angeles Times

Famed for its palaces, tiled mosques and minarets, Isfahan - where blasts were heard overnight - is also a major centre for military industry.

From BBC

The wheat and potato fields there run right up to the Gaza border fence, within sight of the apartment buildings, water towers and minarets of the Palestinian village of Abasan just beyond it.

From New York Times

Yildiz, a master of Mahya, the unique Turkish tradition of stringing religious messages and designs between minarets, is facing the twilight of a practice deeply ingrained in Turkish culture that is also taken for granted.

From Seattle Times

Later that week, a group in Karachi demolished the minarets on a house of worship used by the Ahmadi sect, a long-persecuted minority declared heretical under Pakistan’s Constitution, amid accusations that their faith insults Islam.

From New York Times

Related Words

• cupola
• spire
• turret