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jamahiriya

Today it means: State of the masses; people's republic; the form of the Libyan state ruled by Muammar Gaddafi from 1977-2011, during which time it was known first as the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya then as the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Full definition →

Arabic جَمَاهِيرِيَّة

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The story

Arabic · borrowed fromجَمَاهِيرِيَّة“[state] of the masses”
English todayJamahiriya

From Arabic جَمَاهِيرِيَّة (jamāhīriyya, “[state] of the masses”), which derives from جُمْهُورِيَّة (jumhūriyya, “republic”) by changing the first element, جُمْهُور (jumhūr, “public”), to its plural form, جَمَاهِير (jamāhīr, “the masses”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.