خليفة

See also: خلیفہ, خلیفه, and جلیقه

Arabic

Etymology

فَعِيل (faʕīl)-type stative-verb active participle from the verb خَلَفَ (ḵalafa, “to be the successor, to substitute for”), with unexpected feminine ending, from the root خ ل ف (ḵ-l-f); literally, "successor, substitute".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xa.liː.fa/

Noun

خَلِيفَة • (ḵalīfa) m (plural خُلَفَاء (ḵulafāʔ) or خَلَائِف (ḵalāʔif))

1. successor
2. caliph
3. vicar, deputy

Declension

Declension of noun خَلِيفَة (ḵalīfa)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	خَلِيفَة ḵalīfa	الْخَلِيفَة al-ḵalīfa	خَلِيفَة ḵalīfat
Nominative	خَلِيفَةٌ ḵalīfatun	الْخَلِيفَةُ al-ḵalīfatu	خَلِيفَةُ ḵalīfatu
Accusative	خَلِيفَةً ḵalīfatan	الْخَلِيفَةَ al-ḵalīfata	خَلِيفَةَ ḵalīfata
Genitive	خَلِيفَةٍ ḵalīfatin	الْخَلِيفَةِ al-ḵalīfati	خَلِيفَةِ ḵalīfati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	خَلِيفَتَيْن ḵalīfatayn	الْخَلِيفَتَيْن al-ḵalīfatayn	خَلِيفَتَيْ ḵalīfatay
Nominative	خَلِيفَتَانِ ḵalīfatāni	الْخَلِيفَتَانِ al-ḵalīfatāni	خَلِيفَتَا ḵalīfatā
Accusative	خَلِيفَتَيْنِ ḵalīfatayni	الْخَلِيفَتَيْنِ al-ḵalīfatayni	خَلِيفَتَيْ ḵalīfatay
Genitive	خَلِيفَتَيْنِ ḵalīfatayni	الْخَلِيفَتَيْنِ al-ḵalīfatayni	خَلِيفَتَيْ ḵalīfatay
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	خُلَفَاء‎; خَلَائِف ḵulafāʔ‎; ḵalāʔif	الْخُلَفَاء‎; الْخَلَائِف al-ḵulafāʔ‎; al-ḵalāʔif	خُلَفَاء‎; خَلَائِف ḵulafāʔ‎; ḵalāʔif
Nominative	خُلَفَاءُ‎; خَلَائِفُ ḵulafāʔu‎; ḵalāʔifu	الْخُلَفَاءُ‎; الْخَلَائِفُ al-ḵulafāʔu‎; al-ḵalāʔifu	خُلَفَاءُ‎; خَلَائِفُ ḵulafāʔu‎; ḵalāʔifu
Accusative	خُلَفَاءَ‎; خَلَائِفَ ḵulafāʔa‎; ḵalāʔifa	الْخُلَفَاءَ‎; الْخَلَائِفَ al-ḵulafāʔa‎; al-ḵalāʔifa	خُلَفَاءَ‎; خَلَائِفَ ḵulafāʔa‎; ḵalāʔifa
Genitive	خُلَفَاءَ‎; خَلَائِفَ ḵulafāʔa‎; ḵalāʔifa	الْخُلَفَاءِ‎; الْخَلَائِفِ al-ḵulafāʔi‎; al-ḵalāʔifi	خُلَفَاءِ‎; خَلَائِفِ ḵulafāʔi‎; ḵalāʔifi

Descendants

• → Dutch: kalief
• → English: caliph
• → Esperanto: ĥalifo
• → French: calife
• → Middle Armenian: խալիֆայ (xalifay)
• → Persian: خلیفه (xalife)
• → Russian: хали́ф (xalíf), кали́ф (kalíf)
• → Spanish: califa

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “خلف”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN