Etymology

alcove

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Today it means: A small recessed area set off from a larger room. Full definition →

French alcôve ← Spanish alcoba ← Portuguese alcova
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The story

  1. Arabic · derived fromالقُبَّة“vault, chamber with vaulted roof”
  2. Portuguese · derived fromalcova
  3. Spanish · derived fromalcoba
  4. French · borrowed fromalcôve
  5. English todayalcove

From French alcôve, from Spanish alcoba or Portuguese alcova, from Arabic القُبَّة (al-qubba, “vault, chamber with vaulted roof”). Doublet of qubba.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.