minaret

American  

[min-uh-ret, min-uh-ret] / ˌmɪn əˈrɛt, ˈmɪn əˌrɛt /

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.

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minaret British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• minareted adjective

Etymology

Origin of minaret

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

Example Sentences

To reach Ghorjomi mosque, one of the biggest, we drove up hairpin mountain lanes, edged with blue hydrangeas, until we spotted the minaret.

From The Wall Street Journal

The minaret was her husband's idea, and he sketched the initial design.

From BBC

She watched one tear the minaret off the top of the building.

From BBC

He saw the gloriously skewed al-Hadba minaret, known as the "hunchback", which had been emblematic of Mosul for hundreds of years, in ruins.

From BBC

One video surfaced of residents rushing to mosques to announce from minarets that “the dog Bashar has fallen.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cupola
• spire
• turret