PEF Survey of Western Palestine Key Map

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.

  • Top
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • X
  • Y
  • Z
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

A

'Ain, pl.: `Ayūn, ʿUyūn

Spring, fountain, source. Examples: El Aaiún

Ab, Abu

Father; as a geographical term it signifies "producing", "containing", etc.;

Arak, pl.: Arkan

Cavern or cliff (among various meanings); see

B

Bab, pl.: Buwab

Gate. Examples Bab el-Mandeb; see

Baḥr

Arabic: بحر - Sea, large river. see

Beit

House. see

Balad

Arabic: بلد (sometimes transliterated as Beled or Belled) - Town; see

Bir

Arabic: بير, Well; see

Birkeh

Artificial pool, tank; see

Buḥayra, Baḥeirah

Arabic: بحيرة, Lake, lagoon; Diminutive of بَحْر (baḥr, “sea”).

Burj

Arabic: برج, Tower, castle; see

C

Casbah

a kind of medina (old city) or fortress; cf. "Qasba"; see

D

Dar

wikt:دار house; see Relevant pages with titles containing Dar

Deir

wikt:دير monastery, convent, cloister (often ruins thereof); see

Derb

wikt:درب road, pass;see

Dhahr

wikt:ظهر ridge;

H

Haram

Sacred place; see

Haud

Reservoir, pond; see

I

Ibn

Son; as a geographical term it signifies "producing", "containing", etc. see

J

Jama'a, Djama'a, Jami'a

place of gathering, community, mosque;

Jazira, Jezireh, Jeziret

Island;

Jebel, Djebel, Jebal, Jabal

mountain;

Jisr

bridge; see

Jubb

(Arabic: جُبّ ): well, pit; see

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 Hebrew Kfar. Unrelated to kafir or kufr.

Kasbah, Kasba, Kasaba

See Qasba

Khan

From Persian xân, meaning caravanserai. Unrelated to the "Khan" in "Genghis Khan". Relevant pages with titles containing 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, 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

N

Nahr

wikt:نهر, river, with the particular meaning of perennial water course, as opposed to a seasonal one, which is called a wadi; see

O

Oued

In North African Arabic, same as Wadi; see

Q

Qabr, Kabr, pl.:Qubūr

Arabic: قَبْر, pl. Arabic: قُبُور - tomb, grave

Qal'a (construct state: qal'at)

Arabic, Persian. Fortified place, fort, fortress, castle;

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 Latin castrum 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., see

Rujm, plural: rujum

wikt:رجم, mound, cairn, hill, spur, and also as "stone heap" or "tumulus".

S

souk, sūq, souq

wikt:سوق, "market"

U

Umm

Mother; as a geographical term it signifies "producing", "containing", etc.; cf. "Mother of all"; see

W

Wadi, Wad, North African Arabic: see Oued

Watercourse: stream (often intermittent stream), sometimes dry waterbed, valley

See also

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). . Names. 29 (1): 65–84. OCLC .
  • 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 .

External links

  • for 35,000 placenames of Arabian Peninsula and surrounding waters and islands contains a glossary of generic toponymic features