ayatollah

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ayatollah

  • /aɪ.əˈtoʊl.ə/ US

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Iranian Persian آیَتُاللّٰه (âyato-l-lâh), from Classical Persian آیَةُاللّٰه (āyatu-l-lāh), from Arabic آيَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ (ʔāyatu llāhi, “sign of God”, from آيَة (ʔāya, “sign”) + اللّٰه (allāh, “God”)).

noun ayatollahs · ayatolla

  1. Shia A religious leader in Twelverism. "It could also pave the way for the Iranian people to seize this unique opportunity and shape their own future," Falk clarified. “I doubt the Iranian people want to replace one ayatollah with another ayatollah.”
  2. colloquial An authority on any subject. P.S. This writer does NOT speak as the Ayatollah of SM. (There isn't one.) If you really want to know more, talk to sadomasochists, or at least do some reading if you're too scared to ask.

Translations

Every language

noun a religious leader

Españolayatolá
한국어아야톨라 ayatolla
日本語アヤトラ ayatora
中文阿亞圖拉 /阿亚图拉 āyàtúlā
हिन्दीआयतुल्लाह āytullāh
Portuguêsaiatolá
Françaisayatollah
DeutschAjatollah
Italianoayatollah, aiatollà
Ελληνικάαγιατολάχ agiatolách
Русскийаятолла́ ajatollá
العربيةآيَةُ اللّٰه ʔāyatu llāh
עבריתאייתוללה

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MLA

"ayatollah." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ayatollah. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

ayatollah. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ayatollah

Chicago

"ayatollah." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ayatollah.

BibTeX
@misc{ayatollah_2026,
  title = {ayatollah},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ayatollah},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}