Word of the Day

rambla

Rambla

Catalan from Arabic

Catalan/ˈram.blə/Spanish/ˈram.bla/
Barcelona's famous tree-lined boulevard, Las Ramblas, is named after an Arabic word for the sandy riverbeds that once crossed the city.

Rambla (Catalan) comes from Arabic ramla, meaning 'sand' or 'sandy riverbed.' The word entered Catalan during the medieval period when Arabic and Catalan coexisted in Barcelona and the surrounding region. In Arabic, a dry riverbed—wadi—was called a ramla, especially one that occasionally flooded with sand during seasonal rains or storms.

5 stops · from Arabia to Barcelona

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