ayatollah

English

Alternative forms

• ayatolla

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian آیت‌الله‎ (âyatollâh), from Arabic آيَةُ اللّٰه‎ (ʾāyatu llāh, “sign of God”), from آيَة‎ (ʾāya, “sign”) + اللّٰه‎ (allāh, “God”).

Noun

ayatollah (plural ayatollahs)

1. A religious leader in Twelver Shi'ism.
2. (colloquial) An authority on any subject.

Translations

a religious leader

• Albanian: ajatollah m
• Arabic: آيَةُ اللّٰه‎ f (ʾāyatu llāh)
• Armenian: այաթոլլա (hy) (ayatʿolla)
• Azerbaijani: ayətullah
• Bengali: আয়াতুল্লাহ (aẏatullah)
• Bulgarian: аятолах m (ajatolah)
• Catalan: aiatol·là m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 阿亞圖拉 (zh), 阿亚图拉 (zh) (āyàtúlā)

• Czech: ajatolláh m
• Dutch: ayatollah (nl) m
• Esperanto: ajatolo
• Finnish: ajatollah (fi)
• French: ayatollah (fr) m
• Georgian: აიათოლა (aiatola)
• German: Ajatollah (de) m
• Greek: αγιατολάχ (el) m (agiatolách)
• Hebrew: אייתוללה‎
• Hindi: आयतुल्लाह m (āytullāh)
• Hungarian: ajatollah (hu)
• Indonesian: ayatullah (id)

• Italian: ayatollah m
• Japanese: アヤトラ (ayatora)
• Kazakh: аятолла (ayatolla)
• Korean: 아야톨라 (ayatolla)
• Malay: ayatollah
• Navajo: ayatʼólah
• Persian: آیت‌الله‎ (fa) (âyat-ollâh)
• Polish: Ajatollah (pl) m
• Portuguese: aiatolá (pt) m
• Russian: аятолла́ (ru) m (ajatollá)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ајатолах m

  Roman: ajatolah (sh) m

• Spanish: ayatolá m
• Swedish: ayatolla (sv) c
• Tajik: оятуллоҳ (tg) (oyatulloh)
• Thai: อายะตุลลอหฺ (aa-yá-dtun-lɔɔ)
• Turkish: ayetullah
• Urdu: آیت اللہ‎ (āyatu-llāh)
• Uyghur: ئايەتۇللا‎ (ayetulla)
• Uzbek: oyatulloh

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian آیت‌الله‎ (âyatollâh), from Arabic آيَةُ اللّٰه‎ (ʾāyatu llāh, “sign of God”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌaː.jaːˈtɔ.laː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: aya‧tol‧lah

Noun

ayatollah m (plural ayatollahs, diminutive ayatollaatje n)

1. A religious leader in Twelver Shi'ism.
2. Highest grade of theological scholarship in Shi'ism.
3. (by extension) A (thought) leader or key figure in general.
   • 2017, Alain Mouton, Het geld is op! De financiële putten van België.

     Van de ayatollah van de begrotingssanering die de Gentenaar in de jaren tachtig was, bleef er niet veel over.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian آیت‌الله‎ (âyatollâh), from Arabic آيَةُ اللّٰه‎ (ʾāyatu llāh, “sign of God”), from آيَة‎ (ʾāya, “sign”) + اللّٰه‎ (allāh, “God”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ja.tɔ.la/

Noun

ayatollah m (plural ayatollahs)

1. ayatollah
2. (figuratively, derogatory) strong proponent of something; person behaving tyrannically and despotically in a particular matter

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Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian آیت‌الله‎ (âyatollâh), from Arabic آيَةُ اللّٰه‎ (ʾāyatu llāh, “sign of God”), from آيَة‎ (ʾāya, “sign”) + اللّٰه‎ (allāh, “God”).

Noun

ayatollah m (invariable)

1. ayatollah

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Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

ayatollah m

1. form removed by a 1984 spelling decision; superseded by ayatolla

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

ayatollah m

1. form removed by a 1984 spelling decision; superseded by ayatolla