ayatollah
/ˌʌɪəˈtɒlə
/noun
A high-ranking religious leader among Shiite Muslims, especially in Iran.The chief ayatollah of the Shiite Muslims in Iraq says he wants direct democratic elections to take place....
- The same applies to Protestant and Orthodox Christian leaders, the Dalai Lama, the Muslim ayatollahs, Jewish rabbinical councils, and all other modern-day religious patriarchs.
- Najaf is the seat of the Shi'ite's ayatollahs, or spiritual leaders.
Origin
1950s: from Persian, from Arabic 'āyatu-llāh, literally 'token of God'.
Rhymes
- distraught
- distress
- distressed
- distressed area
- distressful
- distressing
- distressingly
- distress rocket
- distress sale
- distress signal
- distress warrant
- distributable
- distributary
- distribute
- distributed denial of service
- distributed system
- distribution
- distributional
- distribution board
- distributive
- distributively
- distributor
- distributor cap
- district
- district attorney