Minaret

Minaret

Noun · /ˌmɪn.əˈrɛt/

Definition

A tall slender tower attached to or adjacent to a mosque, typically with a balcony from which a muezzin calls Muslims to prayer; a characteristic architectural feature of Islamic religious buildings.

Origin

From Turkish minare, from Arabic manāra (lighthouse, minaret), from nār (fire, light) — a manāra being literally a place of fire or light, as lighthouses were the original referents. The Arabic root nār (fire) relates to the root nūr (light), which gives nurani (radiant, luminous) and appears in the name Nour. The minaret developed as a distinctive element of mosque architecture from the early Islamic period, with regional variations producing quite different forms — the pencil minarets of Ottoman architecture, the spiral minaret of Samarra, and the square minarets of North Africa.