maqama means arabic literary genre. It carries an Arena rating of 1312, earned across 30 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, maqama ranks #4,034 of 13,410 for Most Exacting Words, #4,158 of 13,409 for Most Beautiful Words, #8,245 of 13,409 for Most Sublime Words, #8,284 of 13,397 for Most Elegant Words.
Why “maqama” is a great word
An episodic, often rhymed prose narrative recounting the picaresque adventures of a wandering rogue, from the Arabic maqāma, from the triliteral root q-w-m, connoting 'to stand' or 'a standing place, session, assembly'. Unlike the rihla, a faithful travelogue of geographic reportage, or the qasida, a stately ode bound by strict monorhyme, the maqama is a fiction of linguistic sleight-of-hand and social critique. It is the scent of dust and cheap wine in a crowded bazaar, the glint of a clever lie in a beggar’s eye, the rhythmic cadence of a conman’s boast echoing off courtyard walls—a form that recognizes all performance is, in the end, a plea for coin and a fleeting reprieve from the road.
Etymology
From Arabic مَقَامَة (maqāma).
noun
- Arabic literary genre
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