qanat

[kuh-not]

noun

1. an underground aqueduct in the Middle East or North Africa through which water flows downhill from an aquifer or well to the surface.

Word History and Origins

Origin of qanat¹

First recorded in 1855–60; from Persian qanāt, from Arabic qanāh “canal”; doublet of canal ( def. ), cane ( def. ), and channel ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Recognized by the Iranian government as a national living treasure, Nabipour tries to share his craft with younger generations—including one of his sons, who uses a qanat to irrigate his pistachio farm—but fears for the future of this fragile tradition.

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The new sites, announced in the Turkish city of Istanbul, include China's Zuojiang Huashan rock art cultural landscape, Iran's ancient aqueducts known as Qanat, and India's archaeological site of Nalanda Mahavihara.

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Iran's Qanat system tapped into alluvial aquifer and transported water underground across vast valleys helping sustain agricultural life and settlements in arid areas.

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In 2009, with $250,000 funding from the Ceil and Michael E. Pulitzer Foundation, Lall's engineering students began to design a modern version of a qanat in Koraro.

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And Lall is already looking beyond Africa: he is in talks with the state of Jharkhand in northeast India to develop a qanat there.

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