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Well attestedNamed from the place

mecca

noun · first attested 19th century

Any enthusiast's destination borrows one city in the Hejaz.

A place that draws people who care about one thing.

Mecca·Saudi Arabia

21.4225°N 39.8261°E · Q5806

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Record

Relationship
Named from the place
Confidence
Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
Attested
19th century
Part of speech
noun

Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.

How it traveled
  1. Step 1

    Mecca

  2. In English

    mecca

The entry

English uses the name of Islam's holiest city for any place of pilgrimage, however trivial. Lower-cased, it has drifted a long way from the original.

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