Dahabeeyah

/dɑːhəˈbiːə/ noun

Definition

A variant spelling of a traditional large sailing houseboat used on the Nile River, carrying wealthy passengers in comfort.

Etymology

An alternate transliteration of Arabic 'دهبية' (dahhabīya), showing different English spelling conventions for the same Arabic word referring to these luxurious boats.

Kelly Says

The fact that we spell the same Arabic word three different ways (dahabeah, dahabeeyah, dahabiah) shows how English borrowed words before we standardized spelling!

Related Words

Explore More Words

Get the Word Orb API

Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.