avania
/ˌavəˈniːə/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A tax or fee imposed on foreigners under the Ottoman Empire, especially one considered to be irregular or extortionate.
Example Sentences
- "The merchants are considered as more immediately under the protection of the Mohassil, and therefore not so subject to the Avanias made by the Bashaw."
- "“Khoja,” said the pasha, slowly, removing the chibouque from his mouth, and looking towards the secretary; “write that Yacob the Jew shall, before sunset, pay an avania to the pasha of one hundred piastres, for selling dhourra within the walls of the city, without authority—now Hebrew, once more we listen.”"
- "Ten years later, as they told their ambassador at Constantinople, Sir Thomas Bendysh, they were still loth to meddle in those ‘barbarous places’ because of the ever-present hazard of avanias."
- "The Europeans often felt that these practices went against the capitulations, and considered them extortions – which they called avanias."
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian avania, from Byzantine Greek ἀβανία (abanía, cfr. modern Greek αβανιά (avaniá) “defamation, slander”), possibly from Arabic خَوَّان (ḵawwān, “unreliable, treacherous”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: ἀβανία, خَوَّان
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˌavəˈniːə/