serdab

[ ser-dahb ]

/ sərˈdɑb /

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noun

a chamber inside a mastaba containing a statue of the deceased.

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Origin of serdab

1835–45; <Arabic sirdāb underground chamber <Persian sardāb cellar for ice, equivalent to sard cold + āb water

Words nearby serdab

Serbo-Croat, Serbo-Croatian, Serbonian, Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, Kingdom of the, Sercq, serdab, sere, serein, Seremban, Serena, serenade

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use serdab in a sentence

The interior of a mastaba is composed of three parts—the chamber, the serdab, and the well.
A history of art in ancient Egypt, Vol. I (of 2)|Georges Perrot
So that the function of the serdab was to afford a safe and final asylum to the statues.
A history of art in ancient Egypt, Vol. I (of 2)|Georges Perrot
Serdab, ser′dab, n. a secret chamber within the masonry of an ancient Egyptian tomb in which images of the deceased were stored.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various
Once the statue was made a stone-house (the serdab) was provided for it above ground.
The Evolution of the Dragon|G. Elliot Smith

As the dolmen is a crude copy of the serdab it can be claimed as one of the ultimate results of the practice of mummification.
The Evolution of the Dragon|G. Elliot Smith

British Dictionary definitions for serdab

serdab

/ (ˈsɜːdæb, səˈdæb) /

noun

a secret chamber in an ancient Egyptian tomb

Word Origin for serdab

C19 (earlier, in the sense: cellar): from Arabic: cellar, from Persian sardāb ice cellar, from sard cold + āb water

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