From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Kaaba \Ka*a"ba\ (k[.a]*[=a]"b[.a]), prop. n. [Ar. ka'bah, lit.,
a square building, fr. ka'b cube.]
The small and nearly cubical stone building, in the court of
the Great Mosque at Mecca, toward which all Mohammedans must
pray. It contains a sacred black stone, believed by
Mohammedans to be one of the precious stones of paradise, and
to have been brought to Abraham when he was contructing the
Kaaba, by the Angel Gabriel. The Kaaba itself predates
Mohammed, having been a pantheon which contained Arab idols,
which were destroyed by Mohammed. [Written also {caaba},
{kaabeh} and {kaabah}.]
[1913 Webster +PJC]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Caaba \Ca*a"ba\ (k[.a]*[=a]"b[.a]), n. [Ar. ka'bah, lit., a
square building, fr. ka'b cube.]
The small and nearly cubical stone building, toward which all
Mohammedans must pray. [Written also {kaaba}.]
[1913 Webster]
Note: The Caaba is situated in Mecca, a city of Arabia, and
contains a famous black stone said to have been brought
from heaven. Before the time of Mohammed, the Caaba was
an idolatrous temple, but it has since been the chief
sanctuary and object of pilgrimage of the Mohammedan
world.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
Kaaba
n 1: (Islam) a black stone building in Mecca that is shaped like
a cube and that is the most sacred Muslim pilgrim shrine;
believed to have been given by Gabriel to Abraham; Muslims
turn in its direction when praying [syn: {Kaaba}, {Caaba}]
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