قلعة

See also: قلعہ‎ and قلعه‎

Arabic

قَلْعَة

Etymology 1

Unknown. Possibilities include:

• From the Arabic root ق ل ع‎ (q-l-ʿ).
• From Persian کلات‎ (kalât, “fortress”), since a borrowing of this word regularly yields the shape قَلْعَة (qalʿa). Akin to Mazanderani کلا‎ (kalâ, “borough”).
• From the name of the Malay town below, after its high walls, perhaps supported by how the vocalization varies between قَلْعَة (qalʿa), قِلْعَة (qilʿa) and قَلَعَة (qalaʿa).
• From Old Armenian քաղաք (kʿałakʿ, “town”), a meaning preserved in the Kipchak Turkic group; see there for further discussion.
• From Proto-Turkic *kiāl-mak (“to remain”). Compare the early Turkic borrowing for a fortification خَازُوق‎ (ḵāzūq, “pale, stake”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /qal.ʕa/, (less common) IPA^(key): /qil.ʕa/

Noun

قَلْعَة or قِلْعَة • (qalʿa or qilʿa) f (plural قِلَاع‎ (qilāʿ) or قُلُوع‎ (qulūʿ) or قَلَعَات‎ (qalaʿāt))

1. fortress, fort, castle

Declension

Declension of noun قَلْعَة (qalʿa)‎; قِلْعَة (qilʿa)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قَلْعَة‎; قِلْعَة qalʿa‎; qilʿa	الْقَلْعَة‎‎; الْقِلْعَة‎ al-qalʿa‎; al-qilʿa	قَلْعَة‎; قِلْعَة qalʿat‎; qilʿat
Nominative	قَلْعَةٌ‎; قِلْعَةٌ qalʿatun‎; qilʿatun	الْقَلْعَةُ‎‎; الْقِلْعَةُ‎ al-qalʿatu‎; al-qilʿatu	قَلْعَةُ‎; قِلْعَةُ qalʿatu‎; qilʿatu
Accusative	قَلْعَةً‎; قِلْعَةً qalʿatan‎; qilʿatan	الْقَلْعَةَ‎‎; الْقِلْعَةَ‎ al-qalʿata‎; al-qilʿata	قَلْعَةَ‎; قِلْعَةَ qalʿata‎; qilʿata
Genitive	قَلْعَةٍ‎; قِلْعَةٍ qalʿatin‎; qilʿatin	الْقَلْعَةِ‎‎; الْقِلْعَةِ‎ al-qalʿati‎; al-qilʿati	قَلْعَةِ‎; قِلْعَةِ qalʿati‎; qilʿati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قَلْعَتَيْن‎‎; قِلْعَتَيْن‎ qalʿatayn‎; qilʿatayn	الْقَلْعَتَيْن‎‎; الْقِلْعَتَيْن‎ al-qalʿatayn‎; al-qilʿatayn	قَلْعَتَيْ‎‎; قِلْعَتَيْ‎ qalʿatay‎; qilʿatay
Nominative	قَلْعَتَانِ‎‎; قِلْعَتَانِ‎ qalʿatāni‎; qilʿatāni	الْقَلْعَتَانِ‎‎; الْقِلْعَتَانِ‎ al-qalʿatāni‎; al-qilʿatāni	قَلْعَتَا‎‎; قِلْعَتَا‎ qalʿatā‎; qilʿatā
Accusative	قَلْعَتَيْنِ‎‎; قِلْعَتَيْنِ‎ qalʿatayni‎; qilʿatayni	الْقَلْعَتَيْنِ‎‎; الْقِلْعَتَيْنِ‎ al-qalʿatayni‎; al-qilʿatayni	قَلْعَتَيْ‎‎; قِلْعَتَيْ‎ qalʿatay‎; qilʿatay
Genitive	قَلْعَتَيْنِ‎‎; قِلْعَتَيْنِ‎ qalʿatayni‎; qilʿatayni	الْقَلْعَتَيْنِ‎‎; الْقِلْعَتَيْنِ‎ al-qalʿatayni‎; al-qilʿatayni	قَلْعَتَيْ‎‎; قِلْعَتَيْ‎ qalʿatay‎; qilʿatay
Plural	basic broken plural triptote‎; sound feminine plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قِلَاع‎‎; قُلُوع‎‎; قَلَعَات‎ qilāʿ‎; qulūʿ‎; qalaʿāt	الْقِلَاع‎‎; الْقُلُوع‎‎; الْقَلَعَات‎ al-qilāʿ‎; al-qulūʿ‎; al-qalaʿāt	قِلَاع‎‎; قُلُوع‎‎; قَلَعَات‎ qilāʿ‎; qulūʿ‎; qalaʿāt
Nominative	قِلَاعٌ‎‎; قُلُوعٌ‎‎; قَلَعَاتٌ‎ qilāʿun‎; qulūʿun‎; qalaʿātun	الْقِلَاعُ‎‎; الْقُلُوعُ‎‎; الْقَلَعَاتُ‎ al-qilāʿu‎; al-qulūʿu‎; al-qalaʿātu	قِلَاعُ‎‎; قُلُوعُ‎‎; قَلَعَاتُ‎ qilāʿu‎; qulūʿu‎; qalaʿātu
Accusative	قِلَاعًا‎‎; قُلُوعًا‎‎; قَلَعَاتٍ‎ qilāʿan‎; qulūʿan‎; qalaʿātin	الْقِلَاعَ‎‎; الْقُلُوعَ‎‎; الْقَلَعَاتِ‎ al-qilāʿa‎; al-qulūʿa‎; al-qalaʿāti	قِلَاعَ‎‎; قُلُوعَ‎‎; قَلَعَاتِ‎ qilāʿa‎; qulūʿa‎; qalaʿāti
Genitive	قِلَاعٍ‎‎; قُلُوعٍ‎‎; قَلَعَاتٍ‎ qilāʿin‎; qulūʿin‎; qalaʿātin	الْقِلَاعِ‎‎; الْقُلُوعِ‎‎; الْقَلَعَاتِ‎ al-qilāʿi‎; al-qulūʿi‎; al-qalaʿāti	قِلَاعِ‎‎; قُلُوعِ‎‎; قَلَعَاتِ‎ qilāʿi‎; qulūʿi‎; qalaʿāti

Derived terms

• قُلَيْعَة‎ (qulayʿa, diminutive)

Descendants

• → Middle Armenian: կլայ (klay)
• → Persian: قلعه‎ (qal'e)
  • → Azerbaijani: qala
  • → Bashkir: ҡала (qala)
  • → Bengali: কেল্লা (kella)
  • → Hindustani:

    Hindi: क़िला (qilā)

    Urdu: قلعہ‎ (qila)

  • → Kazakh: қала (qala)
  • → Kyrgyz: калаa (kalaa)
  • → Marathi: किल्ला (killā)
  • → Tajik: қалъа (qalʾa)
  • → Tatar: кала (qala)
  • → Turkmen: gala
  • → Uzbek: qalʼa
  • → Ottoman Turkish: قلعه‎ (kalʼa, kalʼe)
    • Turkish: kale
    • → Albanian: kala
  • → Uyghur: قەلئە‎ (qel'e)

Toponyms

• → Spanish: Alcalá
• → Sicilian: Carta-
• → Sicilian: Cala-
• ⇒ Arabic: قَلْعَةْ النِسَاء (qalʿat an-nisāʾ, “Fort of the Women”)
  • → Italian: Caltanissetta

Etymology 2

From the root ق ل ع‎ (q-l-ʿ).

Noun

قُلْعَة • (qulʿa) f

1. (obsolete) distancing oneself, remotion, depart, not resting

   Synonym: رِحْلَة‎ (riḥla)

Declension

Declension of noun قُلْعَة (qulʿa)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قُلْعَة qulʿa	الْقُلْعَة‎ al-qulʿa	قُلْعَة qulʿat
Nominative	قُلْعَةٌ qulʿatun	الْقُلْعَةُ‎ al-qulʿatu	قُلْعَةُ qulʿatu
Accusative	قُلْعَةً qulʿatan	الْقُلْعَةَ‎ al-qulʿata	قُلْعَةَ qulʿata
Genitive	قُلْعَةٍ qulʿatin	الْقُلْعَةِ‎ al-qulʿati	قُلْعَةِ qulʿati

Etymology 3

Proper noun

قَلْعَة or قِلْعَة • (qalʿa or qilʿa) f

1. alternative form of كَلَة‎ (kala, “the tin-exporting port town”)

Declension

Declension of noun قَلْعَة (qalʿa)‎; قِلْعَة (qilʿa)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	—	قَلْعَة‎; قِلْعَة qalʿa‎; qilʿa	—
Nominative	—	قَلْعَةٌ‎; قِلْعَةٌ qalʿatun‎; qilʿatun	—
Accusative	—	قَلْعَةً‎; قِلْعَةً qalʿatan‎; qilʿatan	—
Genitive	—	قَلْعَةٍ‎; قِلْعَةٍ qalʿatin‎; qilʿatin	—

Derived terms

• قَلْعِيّ‎ (qalʿiyy)

References

• Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne, “قلعة”, in Supplément aux dictionnaires arabes‎^[1] (in French), volume 2, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1881, page 396
• Fraenkel, Siegmund, Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1886, page 237
• Freytag, Georg, “قلعة”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[2] (in Latin), volume 3, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, 1835, page 490
• Mirzoyan, Knarik; Charchyan, Tadevos, “Some Persian Loanwords in Tatar Language”, in Problems of Oriental Studies‎^[3], volume 12, Yerevan: University Press, 2016, page 256
• Steingass, Francis Joseph, “قلعة”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎^[4], London: W.H. Allen, 1884, page 853
• Wehr, Hans, “قلعة”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic‎^[5], 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, 1979, →ISBN, page 920