Related Searches
Nearby Words

Tripoli

 [trip-uh-lee]   Origin

Trip·o·li

   [trip-uh-lee]
noun
1.
Also, Trip·o·li·ta·ni·a  [trip-uh-li-tey-nee-uh, -teyn-yuh; It. tree-paw-lee-tah-nyah] . one of the former Barbary States of N Africa: later a province of Turkey; now a part of Libya.
2.
a seaport in and the capital of Libya, in the NW part. 551,477.
3.
a seaport in N Lebanon, on the Mediterranean. 175,000.
4.
(lowercase) any of several siliceous substances, as rottenstone and infusorial earth, used chiefly in polishing.
Related forms
Tri·pol·i·tan  [trih-pol-i-tn] , noun, adjective

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Tripoli is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Dictionary.com Unabridged

Lib·y·a

   [lib-ee-uh]
noun
1.
Ancient Geography. the part of N Africa W of Egypt.
2.
Italian, Libia. a republic in N Africa between Tunisia and Egypt: formerly a monarchy 1951–69. 5,648,359; 679,400 sq. mi. (1,759,646 sq. km). Capital: Tripoli.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To Tripoli
Collins
World English Dictionary
tripoli (ˈtrɪpəlɪ)
 
—n
a lightweight porous siliceous rock derived by weathering and used in a powdered form as a polish, filter, etc
 
[C17: named after Tripoli, in Libya or in Lebanon]

Tripoli (ˈtrɪpəlɪ)
 
—n
1.  Ancient name: Oea, Arabic name: Tarabulus el Gharb the capital and chief port of Libya, in the northwest on the Mediterranean: founded by Phoenicians in about the 7th century bc; the only city that has survived of the three (Oea, Leptis Magna, and Sabratha) that formed the African Tripolis ("three cities"); fishing and manufacturing centre. Pop: 1 223 300 (2002 est)
2.  Ancient name: Tripolis, Arabic name: Tarabulus esh Sham a port in N Lebanon, on the Mediterranean: the second largest town in Lebanon; taken by the Crusaders in 1109 after a siege of five years; oil-refining and manufacturing centre. Pop: 212 000 (2005 est)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

Tripoli
both the Libyan capital and the Lebanese port city represent Gk. tri- "three" + polis "town." In Libya, Tripolis was the name of a Phoenician colony consisting of Oea (which grew into modern Tripoli), Leptis Magna, and Sabratha. Arabic distinguishes them as Tarabulus ash-sham ("Syrian Tripoli") and Tarabulus
EXPAND
al-garb ("Western Tripoli").

Libya
north African nation, an ancient name, attested in heiroglyphics from 2000 B.C.E., of unknown origin. In Gk. use, sometimes meaning all of Africa."
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

Libya definition


Nation in northern Africa on the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west. Its capital and largest city is Tripoli.

Note: Under the leadership of Muammar Qaddafi, Libya pursued a policy of openly supporting and abetting terrorists around the world. This policy made Libya an outcast state with few friends outside the Arab world. Recently, Qaddafi has claimed that he now disavows terrorism.
Tripoli [(trip-uh-lee)]

Capital of Libya and the largest city in the country, located in northwestern Libya.

Note: The city dates back to the seventh century b.c.
Note: United States war planes attacked Tripoli in 1986 in retaliation for Libyan terrorist acts against American citizens.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

tripoli

porous, friable, microcrystalline siliceous rock of sedimentary origin that is composed chiefly of chalcedony and microcrystalline quartz. Although the name tripoli was chosen because of the rock's superficial resemblance to tripolite, a diatomite or from Tripolitania region, Libya, the term does not include diatomite, or hardened diatomaceous earth. Some tripoli is a coherent residuum from leached limestone, dolomite, or chert; other examples probably are colloidal silica that has been leached from other rocks and earth, gathered together in lumps, and partly recrystallized. The friable variety is more typical. The chemical composition is usually more than 95 percent silica (silicon dioxide, SiO2), but the impurities may impart desirable physical properties.

Learn more about tripoli with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
Partners:WordBloglinesCitysearchThe Daily BeastAsk AnswersAsk KidsLife123SendoriThesaurus
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
About Privacy Policy Terms of Use API Careers Advertise with Us Contact Us Help
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT
How many words do you know? FIND OUT