Adobe Meaning
/əˈdəʊ.bi/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAn unburnt brick dried in the sun.
nounThe earth from which such bricks are made.
Sentence Examples
Adobe and Apple both have top-notch video editing programs.
At last! Adobe dumps this shitty Flash for mobiles.
Some Southwestern Native Americans lived in adobe houses called pueblos.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The desert village featured many homes built from sun-dried ____ bricks.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The traditional houses in the desert were built from sun-dried ____ bricks.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Egyptian ḏbt Demotic Egyptian tb Coptic ⲧⲱⲃⲉ (tōbe)der. Arabic طُوبَة (ṭūba) Andalusian Arabic طُوبَة Andalusian Arabic طُوبder. Spanish adobebor. English adobe From Spanish adobe, from Arabic اَلطُّوب (aṭ-ṭūb), from Sahidic Coptic ⲧⲱⲃⲉ (tōbe, “brick”), from Demotic Egyptian (tb, “brick”), from Egyptian Db-b-t:O39 (ḏbt, “brick, block, ingot”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"“Find me a nice, clean adobe wall,” says he, “and send Senor Rompiro up against it.”"
— 1903, O’Henry, Roads of Destiny:
"Stone sidewalks, little more than a ledge in width, ran along the base of the mean and monotonous adobe houses."
— 1904 November, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], Cabbages and Kings, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., page 24:
"The snow-dusted mesas and million-dollar adobes look enchanting as ever[…]."
— 2007 March 11, Ralph Blumenthal, “Prosecutor’s Ouster Shifts Political Order”, in New York Times:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The desert village featured many homes built from sun-dried ____ bricks.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The traditional houses in the desert were built from sun-dried ____ bricks.