Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Islam A high-ranking Shiite religious authority regarded as worthy of imitation in matters of religious law and interpretation.
- n. Islam Used as a title for such a leader.
Wiktionary
WordNet 3.0
- n. a high-ranking Shiite religious leader who is regarded as an authority on religious law and its interpretation and who has political power as well
Etymologies
- From Persian آیتالله (âyatollâh), from Arabic آية الله ('āyatu-llāh, "sign of God") (Wiktionary)
- Persian āyatollāh, from Arabic 'āyatu llāh, sign of God : 'āyatu, bound form of 'āya, sign, Koranic verse; see אwy in Semitic roots + allāh, Allah; see Allah. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“His successor, Ali Khamenei, also a fighter against the shah rather than a religious authority, was hastily "promoted" to the title ayatollah in order to become supreme leader.”
“And a prime example of this would be Iran … The ayatollah is both the religious leader and the political leader.”
“And to call the ayatollah's words lame propaganda ignores the fact that it is so effective in rallying our enemies.”
"This defeat is actually an obvious victory for the Iranian nation."
“He said we were doing business with the government of Iran—in other words, the ayatollah himself—and that we were trading arms for hostages.”
“Thanks to fiction I can, for example, kill an ayatollah, which is something you cannot do in real life," Nahapetian said at the "Semana Negra" crime-writing festival, attended by a million people every year in Gijon, northern Spain.”
“The ayatollah was a strong critic of US policy in the Middle East”
“According to Middle East "experts" the ayatollah is a pragmatic man (at least as pragmatic as an islamist can be).”
“Clinton called the ayatollah's comments "disappointing" and said that al-Qaida in Iraq and other extremists were clearly responsible for the deaths.”
“We all knew before their election that in the end, the ayatollah is the one who's really in charge.”
“AggieJAG: there ya go ... the ayatollah is the one who rules, not ackmenicjad”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ayatollah’.
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probablyankita's list
Words are all I have to take your heart away
apartheid, techno-klutz, logorrheic, gordian knot, anodyne, odor of sanctity, finders keepers, foot-in-mouth dis..., dutch uncle, masquerade, smoke signals, furtive glance and 320 more...
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POL - people in power
daredevil, tzar, king, boss, master, commander, chief, kingpin, top banana, bigwig, big cheese, big wheel and 452 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Realia from Everywhere
Culturally defined terms and expressions from the four corners of the world
fjord, mistral steppe, tornado, tsunami, polder, kiwi, koala, sequoia, Abominable Snowman, paprika, spaghetti, empanada and 299 more...
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Vocabulary
Words I come across while reading.
talus, echelon, onanistic, cabochon, avocation, charnel, moue, portentous, prolixity, astringent, hoary, patina and 165 more...
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Take Me To Your Whosit
About leaders, particularly the authority-figure at the top of the tree.
leader, chief, boss, cap'n, executive, president, head, tsar, alpha male, alpha female, conductor, dean and 127 more...
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Spelling Bee list 2011
Abalone, ablution, absolution, aboriginally, abstemious, academician, acclamation, accommodation, acculturation, acetic, acetone, acme and 590 more...
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hallelujah
words ending in 'ah'
cheetah, hookah, halvah, menorah, messiah, mynah, chutzpah, uriah, oprah, savannah, shah, torah and 14 more...
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Factory Joe's Dictionary
The favorite and phantasmagorical word pickings of Chris Messina.
transmogrification, placelessness, surreal, believe, ambidextrous, brinkmanship, utter, sasquatch, serendipitous, opinion, ayatollah, skirmish and 66 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for ayatollah.
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