sheik

English

Alternative forms

• sheikh, shaykh

Etymology

From Arabic شَيْخ‎ (šayḵ, “elder”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃeɪk/, /ʃiːk/
• Rhymes: -eɪk, -iːk
• Homophones: shake, chic

Noun

sheik (plural sheiks or shuyook)

1. The leader of an Arab village, family or small tribe.
2. An Islamic religious cleric; the leader of an Islamic religious order.
   • 2013 August 1, Islamic Online University Insights‎^[1], page 10:

     He then studied under a variety of scholars (shuyook) and institutes around the world in his quest for authentic knowledge.

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 Sheik)
   • 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.

Related terms

• sheikha

Translations

leader of an Arab village, family or small tribe

• Albanian: sheik (sq) m
• Arabic: شَيْخ‎ m (šayḵ)

  Egyptian Arabic: شيخ‎ m (šēḵ)

• Armenian: շեյխ (hy) (šeyx)
• Avar: шайих (šajiχ)
• Azerbaijani: şeyx
• Belarusian: шэйх m (šejx)
• Bengali: শেখ (śekh)
• Bulgarian: шейх m (šejh)
• Catalan: xeic (ca) m
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: šejk (cs) m, šejch m, 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), शेख (hi) m (śekh)
• 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 (şaiqy)
• Korean: 샤이크 (syaikeu)

• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: شێخ‎ (ku) (şêx)

  Northern Kurdish: şêx (ku)

• Kyrgyz: шайык (ky) (şayıq)
• Malay: syeikh (ms)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sjeik m

  Nynorsk: sjeik m

• Pashto: شيخ‎ m (šayx)
• 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)
• Turkmen: şeyh
• Ukrainian: шейх m (šejx)
• Urdu: شیخ‎ m (śaix)
• Uyghur: شەيخ‎ (sheyx)
• Uzbek: shayx (uz)
• Yiddish: שייך‎ m (sheykh)

Islamic religious clergy

• Arabic: شَيْخ‎ m (šayḵ)

  Egyptian Arabic: شيخ‎ m (šēḵ)

• Armenian: շեյխ (hy) (šeyx)
• Avar: шайих (šajiχ)
• Bengali: শেখ (śekh)
• Bulgarian: шейх m (šejh)
• Chichewa: shehe
• Czech: šejk (cs) m, šejch m, šajch m
• Dutch: sheik m
• Finnish: šeikki (fi)
• Georgian: შეიხი (šeixi)
• German: Scheich (de) m
• Greek: σεΐχης (el) m (seḯchis)
• Hindi: शैख़ m (śaix), शेख (hi) m (śekh)
• Hungarian: sejk (hu)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: شێخ‎ (ku) (şêx)

  Northern Kurdish: şêx (ku)

• 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)
• Uyghur: شەيخ‎ (sheyx)
• Yao: shehe

Gulf countries: official title for members of the royal family

• Arabic: شَيْخ‎ m (šayḵ)

  Egyptian Arabic: شيخ‎ m (šēḵ)

• 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

• Bulgarian: донжуан (bg) (donžuan)
• Dutch: sheik m

• Greek: γόης (el) (góis)

Anagrams

• hikes

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Dutch

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

sheik m (plural sheiks, diminutive sheikje n)

1. sheik