madrassa

noun

ma·​dras·​sa mə-ˈdra-sə How to pronounce madrassa (audio)
-ˈdrä-
variants or madrasa or less commonly madrassah or madrasah
: a Muslim school, college, or university that is often part of a mosque

Examples of madrassa in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Uncle continued to act so nicely that even the pupils at the madrassa agreed that a change of some kind had occurred. Mohammed Naseehu Ali, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024 The regime is subsidizing hundreds of madrassas — religious schools — for boys and men. Pamela Constable, Washington Post, 4 June 2023 Akhunzada ran a madrassa, or a religious school, in Pakistan’s border regions before his 2016 rise as the new Taliban leader. Kathy Gannon, chicagotribune.com, 28 Mar. 2022 Taliban leaders often lived in the safe haven of neighboring Pakistan, while the Taliban also recruited suicide bombers from Pakistani madrassas. Peter Bergen, CNN, 28 Mar. 2023 Sheltering in a fortified madrassa close to the Umayyad Mosque, Ibn Khaldun realized that the city would soon fall. Adam Kuper, WSJ, 2 Sep. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'madrassa.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Arabic madrasa

First Known Use

1616, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of madrassa was in 1616

Dictionary Entries Near madrassa

Cite this Entry

“Madrassa.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/madrassa. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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