MECCA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Mecca mean? 

• MECCA (noun)
  The noun MECCA has 2 senses:

1. joint capital (with Riyadh) of Saudi Arabia; located in western Saudi Arabia; as the birthplace of Muhammad it is the holiest city of Islam

2. a place that attracts many visitors

  Familiarity information: MECCA used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MECCA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Joint capital (with Riyadh) of Saudi Arabia; located in western Saudi Arabia; as the birthplace of Muhammad it is the holiest city of Islam

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Instance hypernyms:

capital of Saudi Arabia; Riyadh (joint capital (with Mecca) of Saudi Arabia located in the central oasis; largest city in Saudi Arabia)

Meronyms (parts of "Mecca"):

Caaba; Kaaba ((Islam) a black stone building in Mecca that is shaped like a cube and that is the most sacred Muslim pilgrim shrine; believed to have been given by Gabriel to Abraham; Muslims turn in its direction when praying)

Holonyms ("Mecca" is a part of...):

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Saudi Arabia (an absolute monarchy occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula in southwest Asia; vast oil reserves dominate the economy)

Hedjaz; Hejaz; Hijaz (a coastal region of the western Arabian Peninsula bordering on the Red Sea; includes both Mecca and Medina; formerly an independent kingdom until it united with Nejd to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A place that attracts many visitors

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Context example:

New York is a mecca for young artists

Hypernyms ("mecca" is a kind of...):

place; spot; topographic point (a point located with respect to surface features of some region)

 Context examples 

I then passed through Persia, looked in at Mecca, and paid a short but interesting visit to the Khalifa at Khartoum the results of which I have communicated to the Foreign Office.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)