Kaaba

noun

Kaa·​ba ˈkä-bə How to pronounce Kaaba (audio)
: a small stone building in the court of the Great Mosque at Mecca that contains a sacred black stone and is the goal of Islamic pilgrimage and the point toward which Muslims turn in praying

Examples of Kaaba in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The Clock Tower is located right next to the Kaaba and dwarfs the sacred structure. Ahmet T. Kuru, The Conversation, 9 July 2024 Hania Hassan Salama, 65, a homemaker from Egypt, asked her children to draw a mural of the Kaaba on the wall of their house, a tradition in Egypt to announce a pilgrimage. Magdy Samaan, CNN, 25 June 2024 Even under the hot sun though, prayers at the Kaaba and on the Day of Arafat can offer moments of reflection and inner peace amid the bustling crowd. Aya Batrawy, NPR, 21 June 2024 The Saudi government attempts to crack down on this undocumented contingent of pilgrims, but tens of thousands of undercover pilgrims manage to visit the Kaaba each year. Timothy H.j. Nerozzi Fox News, Fox News, 21 June 2024 Nearly 2 million Muslims will reach the end of the hajj pilgrimage this week, but extreme heat has proved fatal for hundreds who began the journey June 14 to the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Gloria Dickie and Pesha Magid, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 June 2024 Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca’s Grand Mosque. Samy Magdy, Chicago Tribune, 19 June 2024 Furthermore, the Kaaba, considered one of the most sacred spots on Earth by Muslims, is in the center of the Great Mosque in Mecca. Marina Johnson, The Indianapolis Star, 8 Mar. 2024 Opening the section is a tile from 17th-century Iznik, a major Ottoman ceramics center, that diagrams the Great Mosque in Mecca, with the Kaaba at its center. Vanessa H. Larson, Washington Post, 12 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Kaaba.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Arabic kaʽba, literally, cubic building

First Known Use

1734, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Kaaba was in 1734

Dictionary Entries Near Kaaba

Cite this Entry

“Kaaba.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Kaaba. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kaaba

noun
Kaa·​ba ˈkäb-ə How to pronounce Kaaba (audio)
: a small stone building in the court of the Great Mosque at Mecca that contains a sacred black stone and is the point toward which Muslims turn in praying

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