alcassaba

Catalan

Etymology

From Andalusian Arabic القصبة (al-qasába), from Arabic قَصَبَة (qaṣaba); cognate to English casbah and Spanish alcazaba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [əl.kəˈsa.βə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əl.kəˈsa.bə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [al.kaˈsa.ba]

Noun

alcassaba f (plural alcassabes)

1. a fortress inside a walled city
2. (by synecdoche) the medina, the older part of a city in North Africa

Related terms

• alcàsser

Further reading

• “alcassaba”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024