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Cas·bah also Kas·bah

(kăzbä′, käz-)

1. A castle or palace in northern Africa.

2. often casbah The older section of a city in northern Africa or the Middle East.

[French, from Arabic dialectal qaṣba, from Arabic qaṣaba, to cut up; see qṣb in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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