ayatollah

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AggieJAG: there ya go ... the ayatollah is the one who rules, not ackmenicjad

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Definitions (3)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun Islam A high-ranking Shiite religious authority regarded as worthy of imitation in matters of religious law and interpretation.
  2. noun Islam Used as a title for such a leader.

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Examples (45)

  • The best book out there to get inside the mind of an ayatollah is Roy Mottahedeh's —  The Corner
  • Uhbama sent mixed signals to the ayatollah, the great one, requesting months ago a tea party sit down and oooooooooops, let slip a few days ago that he had been waiting to see folks in the streets in the ayatollah's privately owned and screwed nation. —  Latest Articles
  • Senior clerics have not yet recognized him as a grand ayatollah, or Association of Combatant Clerics. —  Slate Magazine
  • Attarzadeh said that volunteers without connection to the ayatollah organized the "martyrdom operations," which he claimed, at any rate, to be purely defensive. —  Writings from the Middle East Forum and Middle East Quarterly.
  • His office said the grand ayatollah, believed to be the successor to the Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, was unable to vote because of security restrictions. —  Latest News - UPI.com
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This word has been looked up 59 times.

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Etymologies (1)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. 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.
 

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