entry
adobe
/əˈdoʊ.bi/sun-dried mudbrick, or its clay mass
From Spanish adobe (mudbrick) + Arabic al-tob (the brick) + O.French / Latin (disputed) daub (to smear).
from Spanish adobe "unburnt brick dried in the sun," which is said by 19c. Dutch Arabist Reinhart Dozy to be
from Spanish adobe "unburnt brick dried in the sun," which is said by 19c. Dutch Arabist Reinhart Dozy to be
from Spanish adobe "unburnt brick dried in the sun," which is said by 19c. Dutch Arabist Reinhart Dozy to be
from Spanish adobe "unburnt brick dried in the sun," which is said by 19c. Dutch Arabist Reinhart Dozy to be
Word Ancestry
from Spanish adobe "unburnt brick dried in the sun," which is said by 19c. Dutch Arabist Reinhart Dozy to be
from Spanish adobe "unburnt brick dried in the sun," which is said by 19c. Dutch Arabist Reinhart Dozy to be
from Spanish adobe "unburnt brick dried in the sun," which is said by 19c. Dutch Arabist Reinhart Dozy to be
from Spanish adobe "unburnt brick dried in the sun," which is said by 19c. Dutch Arabist Reinhart Dozy to be
A sun-baked brick can carry a whole argument about language history. In the Southwest, adobe walls look simple—just mud, straw, and a fierce desert sun—but the word hiding inside them may have wandered in through Arabic, or maybe taken a detour through a Spanish verb meaning “to plaster.” That makes it a linguistic little courtroom drama: one side sees al-tob, “the brick,” while another hears the dusty echo of daub, the same family that gives English its idea of smearing paint or mud onto a wall. The first English citation turns up in 1739, which is a nice reminder that words for old building methods can still arrive late to the party. Either way, adobe is the kind of word that sounds soft but has survived centuries by hardening in the sun.
The Story
A sun-baked brick can carry a whole argument about language history. In the Southwest, adobe walls look simple—just mud, straw, and a fierce desert sun—but the word hiding inside them may have wandered in through Arabic, or maybe taken a detour through a Spanish verb meaning “to plaster.” That makes it a linguistic little courtroom drama: one side sees al-tob, “the brick,” while another hears the dusty echo of daub, the same family that gives English its idea of smearing paint or mud onto a wall. The first English citation turns up in 1739, which is a nice reminder that words for old building methods can still arrive late to the party. Either way, adobe is the kind of word that sounds soft but has survived centuries by hardening in the sun.
Kin & Kindred
From 'adobe'·mudbrick; unburnt brick dried in the sun
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'al-tob'·the brick
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'daub'·to smear, plaster, whitewash
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary