a town in central Mali, on the River Niger: terminus of a trans-Saharan caravan route; a great Muslim centre (14th–16th centuries). Pop: 31 973 (1998) French name Tombouctou
2.
any distant or outlandish place: from here to Timbuktu
Word Origin and History for Timbuktu
city on the southern edge of the Sahara desert, older spelling Timbuctoo, used allusively in English for "most distant place imaginable" from at least 1863.
Timbuktu in Culture
Timbuktu [(tim-buk-tooh)]
A remote town in western Africa. Figuratively, it is a faraway and unknown place.
Timbuktu [(tim-buk-tooh)]
City in central Mali, in western Africa, near the Niger River.
Note: By the fourteenth century, it was famous for its gold trade.