🇺🇸
/ˈæl.mə.rəz/
🇺🇸
/ˈæl.mə.rəz/
🇬🇧
/ˈæl.mə.rəz/
🇬🇧
/ˈæl.mə.rəz/
Plural
almirahs
An 'almirah' is a tall, freestanding storage cabinet—common in homes across India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh—used for clothes, linens, or household items; it's typically made of wood or metal, often ornately carved or painted, and functions like a wardrobe or cupboard but carries strong cultural and regional identity in South Asian English.
She arranged her sarees neatly inside the old teak almirah.
The landlord provided a steel almirah for storing our winter blankets.
Every bedroom in the heritage haveli had at least one hand-carved almirah.
He opened the almirah door to retrieve his school uniform.
The antique almirah was passed down through three generations of the family.
mirhāb
Comes from Arabic 'mirḥāf' (مِرْحَاف), later adapted as 'mirhāb' in Persian, meaning 'a niche or recess (especially in a mosque wall indicating the qibla direction)'; through semantic extension in Persian and Urdu, it came to denote a built-in or freestanding storage recess/cupboard. Examples include 'almirah' (South Asian English), 'mirhāb' (Persian/Urdu architectural term), and historically 'al-miḥrāb' (Arabic).