ayatollah

[ah-yuh-toh-luh] Origin

a·ya·tol·lah

[ah-yuh-toh-luh]
noun
(among Shiʿites) a title in the religious hierarchy achieved by scholars who have demonstrated highly advanced knowledge of Islamic law and religion.

Origin:
1975–80; < Persian < Arabic āyat allāh sign of God; compare Allah
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To ayatollah

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Ayatollah is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
Collins
World English Dictionary
ayatollah (ˌaɪəˈtɒlə)
 
n
one of a class of Iranian Shiite religious leaders
 
[via Persian from Arabic, from aya sign + Allah god]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

ayatollah
honorific title for an Iranian Shiite religious leader, 1950, from Pers., from Arabic ayatu-llah, lit. "miraculous sign of God."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT