شیخ

See also: سیخ and شيخ

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic شَيْخ (šayḵ).

Noun

شیخ • (şeyh) (plural شیوخ or اشیاخ or شیخه or مشیخه or مشایخ, feminine equivalent شیخه)

1. elder, old man

   Synonym: دده (dede)

2. head of a family or tribe
3. head of a religious community
4. head preacher or teacher

Derived terms

• شیخ الاسلام (Şeyhülislam)

Descendants

• Turkish: şeyh
• → Albanian: sheh
• → Romanian: șeic

References

• Kélékian, Diran (1911), “شیخ”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[1] (in French), Constantinople: Mihran, page 740
• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “شیخ”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[2], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, pages 1145–6

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic شَيْخ (šayḵ).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈʃajx/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃeːx], [ʃäjx]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃeːx], [ʃäjx]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʃeːx], [ʃäjx]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʃeːx], [ʃäjx]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃejx]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃäjχ]

Readings
Classical reading?	šayx
Dari reading?	šēx, šayx
Iranian reading?	šeyx
Tajik reading?	šayx

Noun

Dari	شیخ
Iranian Persian
Tajik	шайх

شیخ • (šeyx)

1. sheik
2. elder

Synonyms

• پیر (pir)

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: şeyx
• → Kholosi: šēx
• → Urdu: شیخ (śaix)

Urdu

Etymology

From Classical Persian شَیْخ (šayx), from Arabic شَيْخ (šayḵ).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ʃeːx/, /ʃɛːx/
• Rhymes: -eːx

Adjective

شیخ • (śex)

1. (colloquial) stingy
2. pious; religiously knowledgeable

Noun

شَیخ or شیخ • (śaix or śex) m (formal plural شُیُوخ (śuyūx), Hindi spelling शेख़ or शैख़)

1. (literally) a sheik (and all the meaning that encompass, inc. but not limited to)
   1. a leader of an Arab tribe
   2. an Islamic cleric
2. an old; elder (man)

Declension

Declension of شیخ

	singular	plural
direct	شیخ (śex)	شیخ (śex)
oblique	شیخ (śex)	شیخوں (śexõ)
vocative	شیخ (śex)	شیخو (śexo)

Proper noun

شیخ • (śex) m

1. a male caste surname originating as a patronymic, equivalent to English Sheikh

Further reading

• “شیخ”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “شیخ”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971), “شيخ”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.