sheik

English

Alternative forms

• sheikh
• shaykh

Etymology

From Arabic شَيْخ (šayḵ), from شَاخَ (šāḵa, “to age, grow old”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃeɪk/ or /ʃiːk/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːk
• Homophones: chic, shake

Noun

sheik (plural sheiks)

1. The leader of an Arab village, family or small tribe.
2. An Islamic religious cleric; the leader of an Islamic religious order.
3. (some Arab Gulf countries) An official title for members of the royal family as well as some prominent families.
4. (1920s) A romantic lover. (from the 1921 film The Sheikh)
   • 1939, George Orwell, Coming Up for Air, part 1, chapter 1:

     When your last natural tooth goes, the time when you can kid yourself that you're a Hollywood sheik, is definitely at an end.

5. (slang) An Arab, especially one dressed in traditional clothing.
6. An honorific for specialists in spirituality.

Usage notes

The use for a religious leader is colloquial as a means of respect. There is no official title.

Translations

leader of an Arab village, family or small tribe

• Albanian: sheik (sq) m
• Arabic: شَيْخ‎ (ar) m (šayḵ)
• Armenian: շեյխ (hy) (šeyx)
• Azeri: şeyx
• Belarusian: шэйх m (šejx)
• Bengali: শেখ (śekh)
• Bulgarian: шейх m (šejh)
• Catalan: xeic
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 謝赫 (zh), 谢赫 (zh) (xièhè), 酋長 (zh), 酋长 (zh) (qiúzhǎng)

• Czech: šajch m
• Dutch: sheik m
• Esperanto: ŝejko
• Estonian: šeik (et)
• Finnish: šeikki (fi), sheikki
• French: cheik (fr) m
• Galician: xeque m
• Georgian: შეიხი (šeixi)
• German: Scheich (de) m
• Greek: σεΐχης (el) m (seḯchis)
• Hebrew: שייח׳ / שֵׁיח‎ m (sheykh)
• Hindi: शैख़ m (śaix)
• Hungarian: sejk (hu)
• Icelandic: sjeik m
• Indonesian: syekh (id)
• Italian: sceicco (it)
• Japanese: シャイフ (shaifu), シェイフ (sheifu)
• Kazakh: шайқы (şayqı)

• Korean: 셰흐 (syeheu), 셰이크 (syeikeu)
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji: şêx (ku)

  Sorani: شێخ‎ (ku) (şex)

• Kyrgyz: шайык (ky) (şayık)
• Malay: syeikh
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sjeik m

  Nynorsk: sjeik m

• Persian: شیخ‎ (fa) (šeyx)
• Polish: szejk (pl) m
• Portuguese: xeque (pt) m
• Romanian: șeic (ro)
• Russian: шейх (ru) m (šejx)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: шеик m

  Roman: šeik (sh) m

• Slovak: šejk m
• Slovene: šejk m
• Spanish: jeque (es) m
• Swedish: schejk (sv), shejk (sv) c
• Tagalog: heke
• Tajik: шайх (tg) (šayx)
• Turkish: şeyh (tr)
• Ukrainian: шейх m (šejx)
• Urdu: شیخ‎ m (śaix)
• Uzbek: shayx (uz)
• Yiddish: שייך‎ m (sheykh)

Islamic religious clergy

• Arabic: شَيْخ‎ (ar) m (šayḵ)
• Armenian: շեյխ (hy) (šeyx)
• Chichewa: shehe
• Dutch: sheik m
• Finnish: šeikki (fi)
• Georgian: შეიხი (šeixi)
• German: Scheich (de) m
• Greek: σεΐχης (el) m (seḯchis)
• Hindi: शैख़ m (śaix)
• Hungarian: sejk (hu)
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji: şêx (ku)

  Sorani: شێخ‎ (ku) (şex)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sjeik m

  Nynorsk: sjeik m

• Persian: شیخ‎ (fa) (šeyx)
• Portuguese: xeque (pt) m
• Russian: шейх (ru) m (šejx)
• Spanish: jeque (es) m
• Swahili: shehe
• Swedish: shejk (sv) c, schejk (sv) c
• Tagalog: heke
• Tajik: шайх (tg) (šayx)
• Urdu: شیخ‎ m (śaix)
• Yao: shehe

Gulf countries: official title for members of the royal family

• Arabic: شَيْخ‎ (ar) m (šayḵ)
• Armenian: շեյխ (hy) (šeyx)
• Dutch: sheik m
• Esperanto: ŝejĥo
• Finnish: šeikki (fi)
• Georgian: შეიხი (šeixi)
• German: Scheich (de) m

• Greek: σεΐχης (el) m (seḯchis)
• Hungarian: sejk (hu)
• Portuguese: xeque (pt) m
• Russian: шейх (ru) m (šejx)
• Spanish: jeque (es) m
• Swedish: shejk (sv) c, schejk (sv) c

1920s: romantic lover

• Dutch: sheik m

• Greek: γόης (el) (góis)

Anagrams

• hikes

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• (Netherlands) IPA^(key): /ʃɛi̯k/
• (Flanders) IPA^(key): /ʃɛːk/
• Rhymes: -ɛi̯k

Etymology

From Arabic شَيْخ (šayḵ), from شَاخَ (šāḵa, “to age, grow old”).

Noun

sheik m (plural sheiks, diminutive sheikje n)

1. sheik