آیت‌الله

Persian

Alternative forms

• آیةالله (āyatu-l-lāh / âyato-l-lâh)
• آیت الله (āyatu l-lāh / âyato l-lâh)

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic آيَةُ اللّٰه (ʔāyatu llāh).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ʔaː.ja.tul.ˈlaːh/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɑː.jä.t̪ʰʊl.lɑ́ːʱ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɑː.jä.t̪ʰʊl.lɑ́ːʱ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔɑː.jä.t̪ʰʊl.lɑ́ː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔɔː.jä.t̪ʰul.lɔ́ː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɒː.jæ.t̪ʰol.lɒ́ːʰ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɔ.jä.t̪ʰul.lɔ́ʱ]

Readings
Classical reading?	āyatullāh
Dari reading?	āyatullāh
Iranian reading?	âyatollâh
Tajik reading?	oyatulloh

Noun

آیت‌الله • (āyatu-l-lāh / âyato-l-lâh) (plural آیت‌الله‌ها (āyatu-l-lāh-hā / âyato-l-lâh-hâ), Tajik spelling оятуллоҳ)

1. (Shia Islam) ayatollah (a religious leader in Twelver Shi'ism)

Descendants

• Dari: آیَتُ‌اللّٰه (āyatu-l-lāh)
• Iranian Persian: آیَتُ‌اللّٰه (âyato-l-lâh)
  • → Dutch: ayatollah
  • → English: ayatollah

    → Hindi: अयतोल्लाह (aytollāh)

  • → French: ayatollah
  • → Italian: ayatollah
  • → Malay: ayatollah
  • → Romanian: ayatollah
  • → Spanish: ayatolá
• Tajik: оятуллоҳ (oyatulloh)
• → Azerbaijani: ayətullah
• → Bengali: আয়াতুল্লাহ (aẏatullah)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: आयतुल्लाह (āytullāh)

  Urdu: آیَتُ ٱللہ (āyatu llāh)

• → Indonesian: ayatullah

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934), “آیت‌الله”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim