Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • An ancient ruined city of Edom in present-day southwest Jordan. It flourished as a trade center and the capital of Nabataea from the 4th century BC until its capture by the Romans in AD 106. The city was taken by Muslims in the 7th century and by Crusaders in the 12th century. The ruins of the “rose-red city” were discovered in 1812.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun an archeological site in Jordan, designated as World Heritage Site
  • proper noun A female given name.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Greek πέτρα (rock)

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

A feminine form of Peter, identical with Late Latin petra "stone"; came into regular use in the nineteenth century.

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Examples

  • Two-thousand-year-old cave paintings are being displayed in Petra, Jordan, while the lost work of Robert Capa has been put on view in New York.

    ARTINFO: NEW YORK: Can't-Miss Gallery Openings This Week ARTINFO 2010

  • My downstairs neighbor, Petra, is waving to me from the alley where the trash cans lie in wait.

    Anhedonia (excerpt) Laura Preble 2010

  • And here in Petra, most hotels that host Westerners do, too.

    Chet of Arabia 2010

  • Two-thousand-year-old cave paintings are being displayed in Petra, Jordan, while the lost work of Robert Capa has been put on view in New York.

    ARTINFO: NEW YORK: Can't-Miss Gallery Openings This Week ARTINFO 2010

  • Two-thousand-year-old cave paintings are being displayed in Petra, Jordan, while the lost work of Robert Capa has been put on view in New York.

    ARTINFO: NEW YORK: Can't-Miss Gallery Openings This Week ARTINFO 2010

  • And here in Petra, most hotels that host Westerners do, too.

    Chet of Arabia 2010

  • Petra is young but her handwriting in English is old-fashioned, reminiscent of what one might see on hundred-year-old American cards, and goes with the postcard beautifully.

    Girls Go Postal! | Warm Wishes 2010

  • Petra is young but her handwriting in English is old-fashioned, reminiscent of what one might see on hundred-year-old American cards, and goes with the postcard beautifully.

    Girls Go Postal! | Warm Wishes 2010

  • The manager of the hotel I stayed in, Petra, is an artist who built a vacation home for his family and then, because the home was beautiful and it cost a lot to maintain, began renting out rooms.

    Greece After The Fall Akhil Sharma 2010

  • Two-thousand-year-old cave paintings are being displayed in Petra, Jordan, while the lost work of Robert Capa has been put on view in New York.

    ARTINFO: NEW YORK: Can't-Miss Gallery Openings This Week ARTINFO 2010

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