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dervish - 3 dictionary results

der⋅vish

  [dur-vish]
Use dervish in a Sentence
–noun
a member of any of various Muslim ascetic orders, as the Sufis, some of which carry on ecstatic observances, such as energetic dancing and whirling or vociferous chanting or shouting.
Origin:
1575–85; < Turk < Pers darvīsh poor man, beggar
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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der·vish   (dûr'vĭsh)   
n.  
  1. A member of any of various Muslim ascetic orders, some of which perform whirling dances and vigorous chanting as acts of ecstatic devotion.
  2. One that possesses abundant, often frenzied energy: "[She] is a dervish of unfocused energy, an accident about to happen" (Jane Gross).

[Turkish derviş, mendicant, from Persian darvēsh.]
Word History: The word dervish calls to mind the phrases howling dervish and whirling dervish. Certainly there are dervishes whose religious exercises include making loud howling noises or whirling rapidly to induce a dizzy, mystical state. But a dervish is really the Muslim equivalent of a monk or friar, for the Persian word darvēsh, the ultimate source of dervish, means "religious mendicant." The word is first recorded in English in 1585.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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dervish 
1585, from Turk. dervish, from Pers. darvesh, darvish "beggar, poor," hence "religious mendicant;" equivalent of Arabic faqir (cf. fakir). The "whirling dervishes" are just one order among many.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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