ghazi

English

Etymology

From Arabic غازي, active participle of غزا ‘raid’.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡɑːzi/

Noun

ghazi (plural ghazis)

1. A hero or champion, especially as a Muslim against non-Muslims; often used as a title.
   • 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, I:

     I should have falled into the hands of the murderous Ghazis had it not been for the devotion and courage shown by Murray, my orderly, who threw me across a pack-horse, and succeeded in bringing me safely to the British lines.

   • 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society 2010, p. 351:

     Then suddenly, an hour before first light, wave after wave of screaming tribesmen, led by suicide-bent Muslim fanatics known as ghazis, began to hurl themselves against the British positions.

   • 2001, Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red, tr. Erdağ M Göknar:

     On a particularly joyous day of the festivities, below Our Sultan’s loge overlooking the Hippodrome, a division of impoverished frontier ghazis appeared in tattered clothes.