Erbil

American

[ir-bil] / ˈɪr bɪl /

Also Irbil,

noun

a town in northern Iraq: built on the site of ancient Arbela.

Erbil British

/ ˈɜːbɪl /

noun

Ancient name: Arbela. a city in N Iraq: important in Assyrian times. Pop: 870 000 (2005 est)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Embassy, the airport in Baghdad and a U.S. base at the Erbil airport.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 21, 2026

Baghdad and Kurdish city Erbil have agreed to export Iraqi oil through the Kurdistan region to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026

The Western base in Erbil is controlled by the US but often houses other coalition forces including British troops.

From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026

"We've had a team at the base in Erbil that's been pulling down drones, protecting themselves but also protecting the base and other service people that they serve with there," he said.

From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026

The modern town of Erbil or Arbil, in the vilayet of Mosul, is about 40 m. from Mosul on the road to Bagdad.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 4 "Aram, Eugene" to "Arcueil" by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023