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

A few weeks later, I stood at the Minaret Vista overlook, in Mammoth Lakes, staring down at hundreds of square miles of forested ravines with Stacy Corless.

From ProPublica

In Linxia, Gansu province, a city once nicknamed Little Mecca, the elaborate dome and minarets of Tiejia mosque were demolished last year for seeming too “Arabic,” say locals, and the call to prayer forbidden as a “public nuisance.”

From Time

And of course, he was even spied on by the NSA under Project MINARET.

From The Daily Beast

Eventually Congress learned the NSA was also snooping on U.S. citizens through programs code named Minaret and Shamrock.

From The Daily Beast

But, as with the claims for minaret building in Switzerland, more is being demanded by Muslims.

From The Daily Beast

Over all rises the square, crescent-crowned minaret—no belfry, but a steeple where the chimes are rung by the human voice.

From Project Gutenberg

There was a minaret directly across the narrow street, so we had the call to prayer almost over our heads five times a day.

From Project Gutenberg

The minaret rises higher above the mosque than the steeple usually does above the church.

From Project Gutenberg

By day, bathed in the hot rays of the sun, its tall minaret-like outline looks like a block of ice against the blue sky.

From Project Gutenberg

Minaret and pinnaret, battlement and shuttle-door, it was a perfect drug-store, nobly planned.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cupola
• spire
• turret