sheikh
/ʃeɪk
/ /ʃiːk /(also shaikh, shaykh, or sheik)
noun
1An Arab leader, in particular the chief or head of an Arab tribe, family, or village: [as title]: Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan al-Nahyan...
- Loyalties depend on personal relationships with tribal chiefs, sheiks or warlords, rather than allegiance to the nation.
- We're back with Anthony Quinn, who has played Native Americans, mafia dons, Arab sheiks, Greek peasants, tycoons, Hawaiian chieftains.
- The sheikh in that village is the leader of the local sports club.
2A leader in a Muslim community or organization.Where is the outrage from all the international groups, the ICRC, the Red Crescent and all the sheikhs, imams and mullahs?...
- We have to ask our Muslim leaders, I mean the Imams, or the sheiks or whatever, but we face another problem now, because we believe that they are not completely free.
- The service was led by a priest, a Muslim sheik and a Baptist preacher.
Derivatives
sheikhdom
/ /ˈʃiːkdəm / noun ...- This, in turn, would ‘snowball’ - the analogy only works in the Cedar Mountains of Lebanon - through the region, bringing democracy from Syria to Egypt and to the sheikhdoms, emirates and monarchies of the Gulf.
- The British withdrew from the Persian Gulf in 1969 after nearly two centuries of dominance, creating a power vacuum for the tiny oil sheikhdoms they had fostered.
- Perhaps a million Keralites have worked in the Gulf at one time or another: it is estimated that they account for a quarter of all the expatriate workers who have lent their sweat to the Gulf sheikhdoms.
Origin
Late 16th century: based on Arabic šayḵ 'old man, sheikh', from šāḵa 'be or grow old'.