ایلچی

Azerbaijani

Noun

ایلچی (definite accusative ایلچینی, plural ایلچیلر)

1. Arabic spelling of elçi

Old Anatolian Turkish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *ēlči; cognate with Kazakh елші (elşı), Kumyk элчи (elçi), Kyrgyz элчи (elci), Southern Altai элчи (elči), Turkmen ilçi, Uyghur ئەلچى (elchi) and Uzbek elchi. By surface analysis, ایل (ẹl, “tribe, people, nation”) +‎ ـچی (çı, -çi, occupational suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /elˈt͡ʃi/

Noun

ایلچی • (ẹlçi) (definite accusative ایلچیی (ẹlçiyi), plural ایلچیلر (ẹlçiler))

1. messenger, someone who brings or delivers messages
2. delegate, legate, envoy, representative, someone who represents others as a member of a legislative or governing body
3. (religion) prophet; someone believed to have communicated with a divine power and to have brought messages from said power

   Synonyms: رسول (resūl), پیغمبر (peyġember), نبی (nebī), یلواچ (yalvaç)

   تكری‌نك ایلچسی ― teŋrinüŋ ẹlçisi ― prophet/messenger of God

Derived terms

• ایلچی ‌یه اولوم یوقدر (ẹlçiye ölüm yoqdur, “don't shoot the messenger”)

Descendants

• Azerbaijani: elçi
• Gagauz: elçi
• Ottoman Turkish: ایلچی
  • Turkish: elçi
  • → Armenian: էլչի (ēlčʻi), ելչի / եէլչի (elčʻi)
  • → Romanian: elciu

Further reading

• Kanar, Mehmet (2018), “elçi”, in Eski Anadolu Türkçesi Sözlüğü [Old Anatolian Turkish Dictionary] (in Turkish), 2nd edition, Istanbul: Say Yayınları, page 253
• Kanar, Mehmet (2018), “ilçi”, in Eski Anadolu Türkçesi Sözlüğü [Old Anatolian Turkish Dictionary] (in Turkish), 2nd edition, Istanbul: Say Yayınları, page 366
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “elçi”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• XIII. Yüzyılından Beri Türkiye Türkçesiyle Yazılmış Kitaplarından Toplanan Tanıklarıyle Tarama Sözlüğü (Türk Dil Kurumu yayınları; 212)‎^[1] (in Turkish), volume III, Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu, 1967, page 144

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish ایلچی (ẹlçi), from Proto-Turkic *ēlči. Cognate with Azerbaijani elçi, Kazakh елші (elşı), Kumyk элчи (elçi), Kyrgyz элчи (elci), Southern Altai элчи (elči), Turkmen ilçi, Uyghur ئەلچى (elchi) and Uzbek elchi. By surface analysis, ایل (il, el, “tribe, people, nation”) +‎ ـجی (cı, -ci, occupational suffix).

Noun

ایلچی • (elçi) (definite accusative ایلچیی (elçiyi), plural ایلچیلر (elçiler))

1. agent, proxy, one who acts in the place of another by that person's authority, someone entrusted to act on behalf of another

   Synonym: وكیل (vekil)

2. delegate, legate, envoy, representative, someone who represents others as a member of a legislative or governing body

   Synonyms: سفیر (sefir), مبعوث (mebʼus)

3. ambassador, a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state

   Synonyms: بیوك ایلچی (büyük elçi), سفیر (sefir)

Derived terms

• اورتا ایلچی (orta elçi, “minister plenipotentiary”)
• ایلچی عقللو (elçi ʼakıllı, “prudent like a diplomat”)
• ایلچی وكیلی (elçi vekili, “chargé d'affaires”)
• ایلچیلك (elçilik, “ambassadorship”)
• بیوك ایلچی (büyük elçi, “ambassador”)
• كوچوك ایلچی (küçük elçi, “minister resident”)
• مخصوص ایلچی (mahsus elçi, “special envoy”)
• وارار كلن ایلچی (varar gelen elçi, “go-between, mediator”)

Descendants

• Turkish: elçi
• → Armenian: էլչի (ēlčʻi), ելչի / եէլչի (elčʻi)
• → Romanian: elciu

Further reading

click to expand

• Barbier de Meynard, Charles (1881), “ایلچی”, in Dictionnaire turc-français, volume I, Paris: E. Leroux, page 235
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “elçi”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 1413
• Hindoglu, Artin (1838), “ایلچی”, in Hazine-i lûgat ou dictionnaire abrégé turc-français‎^[2], Vienna: F. Beck, page 95a
• Kélékian, Diran (1911), “ایلچی”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[3] (in French), Constantinople: Mihran, page 223
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687), “Legatus”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎^[4], Vienna, column 930
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680), “ایلچی”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎^[5], Vienna, column 605
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “elçi”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “ایلچی”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[6], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 304

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian ایلچی (ēlčī, īlčī), from Chagatai ایلچی (elçi). Compare Turkish elçi (“ambassador”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /eːl.t͡ʃiː/

Noun

ایلْچی • (elcī) m (Hindi spelling एलची)

1. ambassador, emissary, representative, diplomat, envoy
2. (historical) elchi

References

• “ایلچی”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “ایلچی”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.