adobe

noun

ado·​be ə-ˈdō-bē 

1

: a brick or building material of sun-dried earth and straw

2

: a structure made of adobe bricks

3

: a heavy clay used in making adobe bricks

broadly : alluvial or playa clay in desert or arid regions

adobelike

ə-ˈdō-bē-ˌlīk 

adjective

Illustration of adobe

• adobe 2

Did you know?

Handmade sun-dried bricks, adobes are formed from a mixture of heavy clay and straw found in dry regions. As a building material, adobes date back thousands of years and are found in many parts of the world. Molds for shaping the bricks were brought to the New World by the Spanish. Excellent insulating properties make adobes ideal material for both dwellings and ovens; home interiors retain heat in winter and stay cool in summer. The adobe buildings at Taos, New Mexico, are typical of Native American pueblo dwellings.

Examples of adobe in a Sentence

The house was built of adobe.

Recent Examples on the Web

Guests can sleep and wake to desert views in the property's adobe homes. —Stephanie Vermillion, Travel + Leisure, 7 Mar. 2024

Tapestries and paintings of monsters and nude women hung on the adobe brick walls. —Jessica Testa, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2024

The vulnerable buildings are mainly made of adobe block and unreinforced brick with mud construction, USGS said. —By joanna Sugden, WSJ, 9 Sep. 2023

In rainy months, the sacred lands surrounding their small adobe town of Tusaquillas well with water. —Megan Janetsky, Victor R. Caivano and Rodrigo Abd, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2024

The larger adobe building, constructed in the 1940s, was home to a Prisoner of War (POW) camp for German officers during World War II. —Jonathan Shikes, The Denver Post, 1 Feb. 2024

The preserve includes an 1823 adobe ranch house, remnants of another adobe and a waterfall. —San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Oct. 2023

The rust and adobe tones used as accents in the dining and formal living rooms were inspired by the artwork that hangs above the marble table. —Maria L. La Ganga, Idaho Statesman, 31 Jan. 2024

The Pueblo has been inhabited for more than a millennium, and many of the adobe structures appear the same as when the Spanish first arrived in New Mexico in the 1500s. —Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 1 Jan. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Spanish, borrowed from Arabic aṭ-ṭūb, from al "the" + ṭūb "brick (material), bricks," borrowed from Coptic (Sahidic dialect) tôôbe, (Bohairic dialect) tôbi "brick," going back to Old Egyptian db.t

First Known Use

1748, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

adobe

noun

ado·​be ə-ˈdō-bē 

1

: a brick or building material made of a sun-dried mixture of earth and straw

2

: a building made of adobe bricks

Etymology

Spanish