madrasa

See also: Madrasa

English

The three madrasas at the Registan of Samarkand

Alternative forms

• madrasah, madrassa, medrese, medresa

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مَدْرَسَة f (madrasa, “school”), a noun of place from the verb دَرَسَ (darasa, “to learn, to study”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məˈdɹæsə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

madrasa (plural madrasas or madaris)

1. (Islam) A school for any kind of teaching, at any grade level; usually specifically a school that teaches Islamic theology.

Usage notes

• The original Arabic word is a generic word for any type of school, but in English it is usually used to refer specifically to Islamic religious schools.

Translations

school for Islamic theology

• Albanian: medrese (sq) f
• Amharic: ማድራሳ (madrasa)
• Arabic: مَدْرَسَة إِسْلَامِيَّة f (madrasa ʔislāmiyya), مَدْرَسَة (ar) f (madrasa) (any school, includes Islamic)
• Armenian: մեդրեսե (hy) (medrese)
• Azerbaijani: mədrəsə (az)
• Bashkir: мәҙрәсә (məźrəsə)
• Belarusian: медрэсэ́ n (mjedresé)
• Bengali: মাদ্রাসা (bn) (madraśa)
• Bulgarian: медресе́ n (medresé)
• Catalan: madrassa f
• Chechen: хьуьжар (ḥʳüžar)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 伊斯蘭學校 / 伊斯兰学校 (Yīsīlán xuéxiào)

• Crimean Tatar: medrese
• Finnish: madrassa (fi)
• French: médersa (fr) f
• Georgian: მედრესე (medrese)
• German: Medresse (de) f; Madrasa f
• Greek: μεντρεσές (el) m (mentresés)
• Hebrew: מַדְרַסַה f (madrasa)
• Hindi: मद्रसा m (madrasā), मदरसा (hi) m (madarsā)
• Hungarian: medresze (hu)
• Indonesian: madrasah (id)
• Italian: madrasa f
• Japanese: マドラサ (madorasa)
• Kazakh: медресе (medrese)
• Korean: 마드라사 (madeurasa)
• Kumyk: мадраса (madrasa)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: مەدرەسە (ckb) (medrese)

  Northern Kurdish: medrese (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: медресе (medrese)
• Macedonian: ме́дреса f (médresa)
• Malay: madrasah (ms)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: madrasa (no) m

  Nynorsk: madrasa m

• Pashto: مدرسه f (madrasá)
• Persian:

  Classical Persian: مَدْرَسَه (fa) (madrasa)

  Dari: مَدْرَسَه (fa) (madrasa)

  Iranian Persian: مَدْرِسِه (fa) (madrese)

• Polish: medresa (pl) f, madrasa (pl) f
• Portuguese: madraça (pt) f, madraçal (pt) m
• Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi: ਮਦਰੱਸਾ m (madrassā)

  Shahmukhi: مَدْرَسَہ m (madrasah)

• Romanian: medresă f
• Russian: медресе́ (ru) n (medrɛsé, medrɛsɛ́)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: медрѐса f

  Latin: medrèsa (sh) f

• Spanish: madrasa f, madraza f
• Swahili: madrasa class IX
• Tajik: мадраса (tg) (madrasa)
• Tatar: мәдрәсә (tt) (mädräsä)
• Thai: มาดราซาห์ (maa-draa-saa)
• Tigrinya: ማድራሳ (madrasa)
• Turkish: medrese (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: مدرسه (medrese)

• Turkmen: medrese
• Ukrainian: медресе́ (uk) n (medresé)
• Urdu: مَدْرَسَہ m (madrasa)
• Uyghur: مەدرىسە (medrise)
• Uzbek: madrasa (uz)
• Yoruba: ilé kéwú

Further reading

• “madrasa, n.”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “madrasa, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Anagrams

• Maarads, ramadas, armadas, Damaras

French

Noun

madrasa f (plural madrasas)

1. alternative spelling of médersa

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مَدْرَسَة (madrasa).

Noun

madrasa f (invariable)

1. madrasa

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Arabic مَدْرَسَة (madrasa).

Noun

madrasa m (definite singular madrasaen, indefinite plural madrasaer, definite plural madrasaene)

1. madrasa

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Arabic مَدْرَسَة (madrasa).

Noun

madrasa m (definite singular madrasaen, indefinite plural madrasaer or madrasaar, definite plural madrasaene or madrasaane)

1. madrasa

Spanish

Alternative forms

• madraza

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مَدْرَسَة (madrasa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈdɾasa/ [maˈð̞ɾa.sa]
• Rhymes: -asa
• Syllabification: ma‧dra‧sa

Noun

madrasa f (plural madrasas)

1. madrasa

Further reading

• “madrasa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swahili

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مَدْرَسَة (madrasa).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

madrasa class IX (plural madrasa class X)

1. madrasa (school of Islamic theology)

See also

• chuo

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• madrasah
• Madrasah

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مَدْرَسَة (madrasa, “school”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /maˈdɾasa/ [mɐˈd̪ɾaː.sɐ]
• Rhymes: -asa
• Syllabification: ma‧dra‧sa

Noun

madrasa (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜇ᜔ᜇᜐ) (Islam)

1. madrasa (school for Islamic theology)

Related terms

• madaris

Further reading

• “madrasah”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• “madrasa”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

Yakan

Noun

madrasa (Islam)

1. madrasa (school for Islamic theology)

Further reading

• Webonary