ALCORANAS, s. What word does Herbert aim at in the following? [The Stanf. Dict. regards this as quite distinct from Alcorān, the Korān, or sacred book of Mohammedans (for which see N.E.D. s.v.), and suggests Al-qorūn, 'the horns,' or al-qirān, 'the vertices.']
1665.—"Some (mosques) have their Alcorana's high, slender, round steeples or towers, most of which are terrassed near the top, like the Standard in Cheapside, but twice the height."—Herbert, Travels, 3rd ed. 164.
ALCOVE, s. This English word comes to us through the Span. alcova and Fr. alcove (old Fr. aucube), from Ar. al-ḳubbàh, applied first to a kind of tent (so in Hebr. Numbers xxv. 8) and then to a vaulted building or recess. An edifice of Saracenic construction at Palermo is still known as La Cuba; and another, a domed tomb, as La Cubola. Whatever be the true formation of the last word, it seems to have given us, through the Italian, Cupola. [Not so in N.E.D.]
1738.—"Cubba, commonly used for the vaulted tomb of marab-butts" [Adjutant.]—Shaw's Travels, ed. 1757, p. 40.
ALDEA, s. A village; also a villa. Port. from the Ar. al-ḍai'a, 'a farm or villa.' Bluteau explains it as 'Povoção menor que lugar.' Lane gives among other and varied meanings of the Ar. word: 'An estate consisting of land or of land and a house, ... land yielding a revenue.' The word forms part of the name of many towns and villages in Spain and Portugal.
1547.—"The Governor (of Baçaem) Dom João de Castro, has given and gives many aldeas and other grants of land to Portuguese who served and were wounded at the fortress of Dio, and to others of long service...."—Simão Botelho, Cartas 3.
[1609.—"Aldeas in the Country."—Danvers, Letters, i. 25.]
1673.—"Here ... in a sweet Air, stood a Magnificent Rural Church; in the way to which, and indeed all up and down this Island, are pleasant Aldeas, or villages and hamlets that ... swarm with people."—Valentijn, v. (Malabar), 11.
1753.—"Les principales de ces qu'on appelle Aldées (terme que les Portugals ont mis en usage dans l'Inde) autour de Pondichéri et dans sa dependance sont...."—D'Anville, Éclaircissemens, 122.
1780.—"The Coast between these is filled with Aldees, or villages of the Indians."—Dunn, N. Directory, 5th ed., 110.