From Arabic 'manara' (lighthouse), from n-w-r (to illuminate) — the mosque tower named as a 'place of light.'
A tall, slender tower attached to a mosque, from which the muezzin calls Muslims to prayer.
From French 'minaret,' from Turkish 'minare,' from Arabic 'manāra' (منارة) or 'manār' (منار), meaning 'lighthouse' or 'place of fire/light.' The word derives from the Arabic root n-w-r (ن-و-ر) meaning 'to illuminate, to give light,' with the prefix ma- forming a noun of place. The original meaning was a beacon or lighthouse — a tower from which light shone — and the term was transferred to the towers of mosques
The Arabic root n-w-r (light) that gives 'minaret' also produces the word 'nūr' (نور, light), one of the most beloved words in Arabic and Persian poetry — so a minaret is literally a 'place of light,' connecting the tower's practical function (a beacon) with the spiritual symbolism of divine illumination.