Jump To:

• rabat
  rabat

  noun

  a sleeveless, backless, vestlike garment extending to the waist, worn by a cleric beneath the clerical collar, especially in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.
• Rabat
  Rabat

  noun

  a seaport in and the capital of Morocco, in the NW part.

rabat

¹ American  

[rab-ee, ruh-bat] / ˈræb i, rəˈbæt /

noun

Ecclesiastical.

1. a sleeveless, backless, vestlike garment extending to the waist, worn by a cleric beneath the clerical collar, especially in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.

---

rabat ² American  

[rab-uht] / ˈræb ət /

noun

1. a piece of unglazed and imperfectly fired pottery, used for polishing hard surfaces.

---

Rabat ³ American  

[rah-baht, ruh-] / rɑˈbɑt, rə- /

noun

1. a seaport in and the capital of Morocco, in the NW part.

---

Rabat British  

/ rəˈbɑːt /

noun

1. the capital of Morocco, in the northwest on the Atlantic coast, served by the port of Salé: became a military centre in the 12th century and a Corsair republic in the 17th century. Pop: 673 000 (2003)

---

Etymology

Origin of rabat¹

From Middle French, dating back to 1860–65; see origin at rebate ¹

Origin of rabat²

< French, Middle French. See rebate ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rabat Rabat

“That’s interesting,” I remarked absently, as I was trying to envision Benech in a long black robe d’avocat and a white rabat.

From The New Yorker ● May 30, 2015

Accompanied by two detectives and a score of newsmen, a plumpish priest in Roman collar and rabat bustled through Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal one afternoon last week.

From Time Magazine Archive

To the witness stand strode a plump, bespectacled man wearing a scarlet rabat under his cleric's black coat.

From Time Magazine Archive

As he passed through gloomy corridors only the sharp-eyed saw at this seeming-priest's throat the purple rabat of a monsignor.

From Time Magazine Archive

It enables him to travel the globe, visiting Fifa's official offices like Rabat, where he was based over the past week as the Fifa Forward Enterprise controversy developed.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

A cavalcade of blacked out Mercedes, flanked by police cars, rolled into the Fifa headquarters in Rabat, Morocco, earlier this week.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Faced with open revolt, Infantino scrapped the plan and convened a meeting of his senior staff in Rabat, Morocco, on Wednesday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

On Wednesday night, Grafström was pictured smiling alongside Infantino at a women’s Africa Cup of Nations match in Rabat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Apparently freedom fighters thought so as well, for Rabat was the crossroads of virtually every liberation movement on the continent.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela