Etymology

Bab el Mandeb

Today it means: A strait between Arabia, Asia and Horn of Africa, Africa, connecting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean. Full definition →

Arabic بَاب الْمَنْدَب
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The story

  1. Arabic · borrowed fromبَاب الْمَنْدَب
  2. Arabic · borrowed fromبَاب الْمَنْدَب
  3. English todayBab el Mandeb

Borrowed from Arabic بَاب الْمَنْدَب (bāb al-mandab, literally “gate of lamentation”), as the strait derives its name from the dangers attending its navigation, or, according to an Arab legend, from the numbers who were drowned by the earthquake which separated Asia and Africa.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.