mihrab

M3I1H4R1A1B3

noun

A niche in a mosque that indicates the qibla (direction of Mecca), and into which the imam prays.

OriginArabic مِحْرَاب →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

nounmihrab (plural mihrabs)

plural mihrabs

  1. IslamA niche in a mosque that indicates the qibla (direction of Mecca), and into which the imam prays.

    Certainly there are nagging undertones of regret to the greatest of the Islamic monuments of Spain, the Great Mosque of Córdoba, for now that its mihrab has been demoted to be a mere curiosity, […].

    1964, Jan Morris, Spain, Faber and Faber, published 2008, →ISBN
  2. IslamA design in a Muslim prayer mat with the same function.

Origin

  1. Arabicمِحْرَاب
  2. Englishmihrab

Borrowed from Arabic مِحْرَاب (miḥrāb).

More words from Arabic

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

brahmi
Cite this entry
APA

mihrab. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mihrab

MLA

“mihrab.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mihrab. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mihrab,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mihrab.

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