mahallah

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

    Etymology tree
    Arabic حَلَّ (ḥalla)
    Arabic مَحَلَّة (maḥalla)bor.
    Classical Persian مَحَلَّه (mahalla)bor.
    Urdu مَحَلَّہ (mahalla)bor.
    Classical Persian مَحَلَّه (mahalla)bor.
    Hindi मुहल्ला (muhallā)bor.
    English mahallah

    Borrowed from Hindustani مَحَلَّہ (mahalla) / मुहल्ला (muhallā), from Classical Persian مَحَلَّه (mahalla), from Arabic مَحَلَّة (maḥalla).

    Pronunciation

    • (UK) IPA(key): /məˈhalə/

    Noun

    mahallah (plural mahallahs)

    1. (chiefly South Asia) A subdivision or neighborhood.
      • 1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 483:
        ‘His Majesty signed the search warrant. We are combing the third muhalla now.’
      • 2023, Radhika Iyengar, Fire on the Ganges, Fourth Estate, page 63:
        When she was young, Dolly was considered the most beautiful girl in the mohalla.
    2. An armed formation of Arabs.
      • 1986, Giorgio Rochat, Omar al-Mukhtar: The Italian Reconquest of Libya, Darf Publishers, page 43:
        Three large mehalle, with an overall strength of over 1200 infantry and 400 cavalry, occupied the heart of the Gebel.
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