Etymology

Allahu akbar

Today it means: God is most great—the Muslim takbir, or liturgical proclamation, used to accept sovereignty of God and as a common form of thanksgiving. Full definition →

First used 17th c.Arabic اللّٰهُ أَكْبَر
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Arabic · borrowed fromاللّٰهُ أَكْبَر
  2. Arabic · borrowed fromاللّٰهُ أَكْبَر
  3. English todayAllahu akbar

Borrowed from Arabic اللّٰهُ أَكْبَر (allāhu ʔakbar).

First known use, by meaning

  • from 17th c. God is most great—the Muslim takbir, or liturgical proclamation, used to accept sovereignty of God and as a common form of thanksgiving.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.