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adobe

 - 3 dictionary results

a⋅do⋅be

[uh-doh-bee]
–noun
1. sun-dried brick made of clay and straw, in common use in countries having little rainfall.
2. a yellow silt or clay, deposited by rivers, used to make bricks.
3. a building constructed of adobe.
4. a dark, heavy soil, containing clay.

Origin:
1750–60; Americanism; < Sp < Ar al-ṭub the brick < Coptic to:o:be brick < Egyptian Demotic tb < Egyptian Hieroglyphic ḏbt
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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a·do·be   (ə-dō'bē)   
n.  
    1. A sun-dried, unburned brick of clay and straw.

    2. The clay or soil from which this brick is made.

  1. A structure built with this type of brick.


[Spanish, from Arabic aṭ-ṭūba, the brick : al-, the + ṭūba, a brick, singulative of ṭūb, bricks (from Coptic tōbe, tōōbe, from Egyptian ḏbt, brick).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

adobe 
1739, Amer.Eng., from Sp. adobe, from oral form of Arabic al-tob "the brick," from Coptic tube "brick," a word found in hieroglyphics.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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