different between ayatollah vs caliph

English

Alternative forms

• ayatolla

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian ????????? (âyatollâh), from Arabic ????? ??????? (??yatu ll?h, “sign of God”), from ????? (??ya, “sign”) + ??????? (all?h, “God”).

Noun

ayatollah (plural ayatollahs)

1. A religious leader in Twelver Shi'ism.
2. (colloquial) An authority on any subject.

Translations

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian ????????? (âyatollâh), from Arabic ????? ??????? (??yatu ll?h, “sign of God”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a?.ja??t?.la?/
• Hyphenation: aya?tol?lah

Noun

ayatollah m (plural ayatollahs, diminutive ayatollaatje n)

1. A religious leader in Twelver Shi'ism.
2. Highest grade of theological scholarship in Shi'ism.
3. (by extension) A (thought) leader or key figure in general.
   • 2017, Alain Mouton, Het geld is op! De financiële putten van België.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian ????????? (âyatollâh), from Arabic ????? ??????? (??yatu ll?h, “sign of God”), from ????? (??ya, “sign”) + ??????? (all?h, “God”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ja.t?.la/

Noun

ayatollah m (plural ayatollahs)

1. ayatollah
2. (figuratively, derogatory) strong proponent of something; person behaving tyrannically and despotically in a particular matter

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian ????????? (âyatollâh), from Arabic ????? ??????? (??yatu ll?h, “sign of God”), from ????? (??ya, “sign”) + ??????? (all?h, “God”).

Noun

ayatollah m (invariable)

1. ayatollah

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

ayatollah m

1. form removed by a 1984 spelling decision; superseded by ayatolla

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

ayatollah m

1. form removed by a 1984 spelling decision; superseded by ayatolla

English

Alternative forms

• calif, kalif, kaliph, khalif, khalifa

Etymology

From Middle English calife, caliphe, from Old French caliphe, from Medieval Latin calipha, from Arabic ????????? (?al?fa, “caliph”) and ??????? (?al?f, “successor”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ke??l?f/, /?kæl?f/

Noun

caliph (plural caliphs)

1. The political leader of the Muslim world; the successor of the prophet Muhammad's political authority.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• chapli, haplic