Sheikh

How to spell sheikh

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce sheikh

What does sheikh mean?

1. nounAn Arab tribal, family, or religious leader, or a man of high rank in certain Muslim societies.

Sheikh in a sentence

• The sheikh welcomed the trade delegation to his palace.

• Each sheikh controlled the water rights across his tribal lands.

Where does sheikh come from?

Language of origin: Arabic

This word comes from the Arabic shaykh, which literally meant 'an old man' or 'an elder', built on a root conveying the idea of growing old and growing wise. Because age carried authority in tribal society, the term broadened to mean the respected head of a family, tribe, or village, and later a religious teacher or leader. English picked it up in the late 1500s through travellers' accounts of the Middle East, and over the centuries it was respelled in several ways, including sheik, shaik, and shaykh, before the Anglicised forms settled. The spelling sheikh keeps a transliteration close to the Arabic, which is exactly what makes it a trap: the 'ei' vowel pairing and the final silent 'h' both defy ordinary English habits. The same Arabic root also gave the now dated romantic sense of a dashing seducer, popularised by a 1920s film, though the original dignified meaning remains the standard one.

How the word is built

• sheikh (single borrowed root from Arabic shaykh: elder, chief); no English prefix or suffix

British and American spelling

Sheikh is the British spelling. American English spells it sheik.

Words that sound like sheikh

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• shake: To move something back and forth or up and down with quick, short movements.