Imam

How to spell imam

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce imam

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does imam mean?

1. nounA Muslim leader who conducts prayers in a mosque, or a recognised Islamic scholar and community leader.

Imam in a sentence

• The local imam led the congregation in the evening prayer.

• The mosque committee invited a new imam to deliver the Friday sermon.

Where does imam come from?

Language of origin: Arabic

This word comes directly from the Arabic imam, meaning 'leader' or 'one who stands in front', built on the verb amma, which literally meant 'to lead the way' or 'to go before'. In Islamic usage it came to describe the person who stands at the front of the congregation and leads the ritual prayers, and more broadly a respected religious scholar or community leader. English borrowed it in the seventeenth century as European travellers and traders wrote about the religious life of the Muslim world, and early texts spelled it in several ways before settling on the modern form. The same notion of 'going before' lies behind the word, so an imam is quite literally the one out in front. Because it is a short loanword with two identical vowels framing two short syllables, the spelling trap for English writers is mainly the single 'm' in the middle rather than a doubled one.

How the word is built

• imam (from Arabic amma: to lead, to go before); a single Arabic root noun meaning 'one who leads'