alcove

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small recessed area opening from a larger room or other interior space

   The reading desk stood in an alcove beside the window.

2. 2
   noun

   a sheltered or partly enclosed outdoor nook or retreat

   Curved whale ribs formed an entrance to the garden alcove.

3. 3
   noun

   geology: a steep-sided hollow or recess in a cliff or exposed rock face, often formed by erosion

   Running water carved a broad alcove into the sandstone cliff.

Simplified etymology

Alcove entered English in the mid-16th century from Arabic al-qubba, formed from al “the” and qubba “dome” or “rounded vault.”

Borrowed from French alcove, from Spanish alcoba or Portuguese alcova, ultimately from Arabic al-qubba, meaning the vault or the vaulted chamber. The indoor recess sense broadened to sheltered outdoor and geological hollows.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary