Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

karbala

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.54 in modern English

Syllables: kar-bala
IPA

13

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A city in central Iraq, site of the murder of Husayn ibn Ali and major pilgrimage destination for Shiite Muslims.

Etymology

From Arabic كَرْبَلَاء (karbalāʔ), of uncertain etymology.

Origin

Source language: Arabic

Word Breakdown

Root: كَرْبَلَاء

Inflected Forms

Karbala' (alternative) Kerbala (alternative) Kerbela (alternative)

Questions

What does karbala mean?: A city in central Iraq, site of the murder of Husayn ibn Ali and major pilgrimage destination for Shiite Muslims.
Where does karbala come from?: It is traced to Arabic.

How to pronounce karbala

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “karbala”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “karbala” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.