Alawi
noun
Ala·wi ˈä-lə-wē 
ˈä-lä-
variants or less commonly Alawite
ˌa-lə-ˈwēt
: a member of a religious sect living mainly in Syria that originated in Shiite Islam but separated from other Shiite groups in the ninth and tenth centuries
Word History
Etymology
Arabic ʽalawī, from the caliph ʽAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, central figure in Shia Islam
First Known Use
1869, in the meaning defined above