Glossary of Arabic toponyms
The glossary of Arabic toponyms gives translations of Arabic terms commonly found as components in Arabic toponyms. A significant number of them were put together during the PEF Survey of Palestine carried out in the second half of the 19th century.
A
- 'Ain, pl.: `Ayūn, ʿUyūn
- Spring, fountain, source.[1] Examples: El Aaiún
- Ab, Abu
- Father; as a geographical term it signifies "producing", "containing", etc.;[1]
- Arak, pl.: Arkan
- Cavern or cliff (among various meanings);[1] see All pages with titles containing Arak
B
- Bab, pl.: Buwab
- Gate.[1] Examples Bab el-Mandeb; see All pages with titles containing Bab
- Baḥr
- Arabic: بحر - Sea, large river.[1] see All pages with titles containing Bahr
- Beit
- House.[1] see All pages with titles containing Beit
- Balad
- Arabic: بلد (sometimes transliterated as Beled or Belled) - Town;[1] see All pages with titles containing Balad
- Bir
- Arabic: بير, Well;[1] see All pages with titles containing Bir
- Birkeh
- Artificial pool, tank;[1] see All pages with titles containing Birkeh
- Buḥayra, Baḥeirah
- Arabic: بحيرة, Lake, lagoon;[1] Diminutive of بَحْر (baḥr, “sea”).
- Burj
- Arabic: برج, Tower, castle;[1] see All pages with titles containing Burj
C
- Casbah
- a kind of medina (old city) or fortress; cf. "Qasba"; see All pages with titles containing Casbah
D
- Dar
- wikt:دار house; see Relevant pages with titles containing Dar
- Deir
- wikt:دير monastery, convent, cloister (often ruins thereof);[1] see All pages with titles containing Deir
- Derb
- wikt:درب road, pass;[1]see All pages with titles containing Derb
- Dhahr
- wikt:ظهر ridge;[1]All pages with titles containing Dhahr
H
- Haram
- Sacred place;[1] see All pages with titles containing Haram
- Haud
- Reservoir,[1] pond; see All pages with titles containing Haud
I
- Ibn
- Son; as a geographical term it signifies "producing", "containing", etc.[1] see All pages with titles containing Ibn
J
- Jama'a, Djama'a, Jami'a
- place of gathering, community, mosque;[1]
- Jazira, Jezireh, Jeziret
- Island;[1]
- Jebel, Djebel, Jebal, Jabal
- mountain;[1]
- Jisr
- bridge;[1] see All pages with titles containing Jisr
- Jubb
- (Arabic: جُبّ ): well, pit;[1] see All pages with titles containing Jubb
K
- Kafr, Kafar, Kafer, Kufur, Kfar
- Ultimately from an unattested "Mari language" through Akkadian and Aramaic, meaning "unfortified town". See the Wiktionary entry at كفر. Equivalent to Modern HebrewKfar. Unrelated to kafir or kufr.
- Kasbah, Kasba, Kasaba
- See Qasba
- Khan
- From Persianxân, meaning caravanserai. Unrelated to the "Khan" in "Genghis Khan".
- Khirbet, Khurbet, Khirbat, etc.
- is the conjunctive form "ruin of" (خربة) of the Arabic word for "ruin" (خرب, khirba, khirbeh, kharab ("ruined"))
- Ksar, qsar, plural: ksour, qsour
- Maghrebi Arabic; See "Qasr"
- Kul'ah,[1] Kal'at, Kalat, Kala, Kaleh
- Arabic, Persian. See "Qalat"
M
- Mazar
- مزار: shrine, grave, tomb, etc. cf. "Mazar (mausoleum)". The placename usually refers to a grave of a saint, ruler, etc.. Examples: Mazar-i-Sharif
- Mazra', Mazra'a, Al-Mazra'a, Mazraa
- مزرعة, mazraʿa: farm, مزرع, mazraʿ: field, farmland, origin for majra, hamlet in Indian subcontinent[2]
N
- Nahr
- wikt:نهر, river, with the particular meaning of perennial water course, as opposed to a seasonal one, which is called a wadi;[3] see All pages with titles containing Nahr-e
O
- Oued
- In North African Arabic, same as Wadi; see All pages with titles containing Oued
Q
- Qabr, Kabr, pl.:Qubūr
- Arabic: قَبْر, pl. Arabic: قُبُور - tomb, grave[1]
- Qal'at, Qalat, Qala, Qalaat, Qal'a
- Arabic, Persian. Fortified place, fort, fortress, castle;[4] see All pages with titles containing Qalat
- Casbah, Kasbah, Qaṣba, Qaṣbah, Qaṣaba
- Arabic: القصبة, romanized: al-qaṣaba), a kind of medina (old city) or fortress
- Qaṣr, Kaṣr, al-Qaṣr, pl.:Quṣūr
- Arabic: قصر, lit.'palace/castle/fortress', from Latincastrum
- All pages with titles containing Qasr
- All pages with titles containing Kasr
- All pages with titles containing Qusur
- It entered into Spanish and Portuguese placenames in the forms Alcazar, Alcácer
- North African (Maghrebi Arabic) form: Ksar
The dictionary definition of qasr at Wiktionary
R
- Ras
- wikt:رأس, head, cape, top, peak, etc.,[1] see All pages with titles containing Ras
- Rujm, plural: rujum
- wikt:رجم, mound, cairn, hill, spur, and also as "stone heap" or "tumulus".[5][6][1]
S
U
- Umm
- Mother; as a geographical term it signifies "producing", "containing", etc.; cf. "Mother of all";[1] see All pages with titles containing Umm
W
- Wadi, Wad, North African Arabic: see Oued
- Watercourse: stream (often intermittent stream), sometimes dry waterbed, valley [1]
See also
- Maghreb place name etymology
- Oikonyms in Western and South Asia
- Place names of Palestine
- List of Arabic place names
References
- ^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabC.R. Conder; H.H. Kitchener (1880). Map of western Palestine in 26 sheets / from surveys conducted for the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund by C.R. Conder and H.H. Kitchener during the years 1872-1877. London: Ordnance Survey Office. Index sheet (27): Topographical and Geographical Terms in Arabic. OCLC 1166941168.
- ^Siddiqi 1982, p. 335.
- ^"Yarmuk", from Encyclopaedia Judaica 2008, via Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 15 Feb 2025.
- ^Siddiqi & Bastian 1985, p. 74.
- ^Mann 2005, p. 139
- ^Negev & Gibson 2005, p. 518
Sources
- Mann, Joel F. (2005). An international glossary of place name elements. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5040-8.
- Negev, Avraham; Gibson, Shimon (2005). Archaeological encyclopedia of the Holy Land (4th, revised, illustrated ed.). Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8264-8571-7.
- Siddiqi, Akhtar Husain; Bastian, Robert W. (1985). "Urban Place Names in Pakistan: A Reflection of Cultural Characteristics". Names. 29 (1): 65–84. OCLC 500207327.
- Siddiqi, Jamal Mohd (1982). Significance of technical terms in place names—a case-study of Aligarh District. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Vol. 43. pp. 332–341. JSTOR 44141245.
External links
- The intro to a 1950s gazetteer for 35,000 placenames of Arabian Peninsula and surrounding waters and islands contains a glossary of generic toponymic features