casbah

C3A1S1B3A1H4
UK/ˈkaz.bɑː/US/ˈkæz.bɑ/

noun

The fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East.

Similar
kasbah
OriginArabic قَصَبَة →
UncommonScrabble 13
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nouncasbah (plural casbahs)

plural casbahs · alternative cusbah · alternative kasbah · alternative qasbah

  1. The fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East.
  2. The medina, the older part of a city in North Africa or the Middle East.

    The king called up his jet fighters / He said, "You better earn your pay / Drop your bombs between the minarets / Down the casbah way"

    1982, Joe Strummer, Rock the Casbah
  3. slangA person's house or flat/apartment.

    He gave me an earth-shattering kiss and whispered, “Come to my casbah and let me ply you with cupcakes.” […] We made good time getting to his apartment.

    2021, Erin L. Jungdahl, Meet Cute Chihuahua

Synonyms & antonyms

nounan older or native quarter of many cities in northern Africa; the quarter in which the citadel is located

Similar
kasbah
Broader
quarter

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Arabicقَصَبَة
  2. Arabicقَصَبَة
  3. Englishcasbah

Borrowed from Arabic قَصَبَة (qaṣaba).

More words from Arabic

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic قَصَبَة
  • قَصَبَة (qaṣaba)the fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East
Bulgarian касаба́
  • касаба́ (kasabá)the fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East
Esperanto kasbaho, citadelo
  • kasbahothe fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East
  • citadelothe fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East
Finnish kasba
  • kasbathe fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East
French casbah, kasbah
  • casbahthe fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East
  • kasbahthe fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East
Hungarian kaszba
  • kaszbathe fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East
Italian casba
  • casbathe fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East
Japanese カスバ
  • カスバ (kasuba)the fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East
Norwegian Bokmål kasbah
  • kasbahthe fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East
Polish kazba
  • kazbathe fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East
Portuguese casbá
  • casbáthe fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East
Russian ка́сба
  • ка́сба (kásba)the fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East
Turkish kasaba
  • kasabathe fortress in a city in North Africa or the Middle East

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Schaab
Cite this entry
APA

casbah. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/casbah

MLA

“casbah.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/casbah. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “casbah,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/casbah.

Source: casbah on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.