قَلعَة

قَلْعَة (noun)

Etymology: Unknown. Possibilities include:
* From قَلَعَ (qalaʕa, “to pull out (up)”).
* From Persian کلات (kalât, “fortress”), since a borrowing of this word regularly yields the shape قَلْعَة (qalʕa). Akin to Mazanderani کلا (kalâ, “borough”) and probably Old Armenian քաղաք (kʻałakʻ, “town”) (under ancient circumstances “fortress, castle” and “town” isn’t necessarily a meaning difference).
* From the name of the Malay town below, after its high walls, perhaps supported by how the vocalization varies between قَلْعَة (qalʕa), قِلْعَة (qilʕa) and قَلَعَة (qalaʕa).
* From Proto-Turkic *kiāl-mak (“to remain”). Compare the early Turkic borrowing for a fortification خَازُوق (ḵāzūq, “pale, stake”).

Meaning: fortress, fort, castle

From Wiktionary: قلعة, by Wiktionary contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.