dervish

What it means

1. An itinerant Sufi mystic practicing voluntary poverty in devotion to God, and often engaging in ecstatic rituals.
   1. historicalIslamA citizen or inhabitant of Darawiish (circa 1895–1920 C.E.), an anti-colonial polity in modern Somalia headed by Sufis.

      Synonyms: fakir

   2. historicalIslamOne of the followers of Muhammad Ahmad, the Mahdi of the Sudan, in the 1880s.

      Synonyms: fakir

   3. broadlyIslamAny irregular guerrilla fighter resembling the Sudanese Mahdi in equipment, uniform, tactics, etc.

      The Hejaz war, meanwhile, would be one of dervishes against regular troops.

      1926, T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, New York: Anchor, published 1991, page 104

      Synonyms: fakir

In a sentence

The Hejaz war, meanwhile, would be one of dervishes against regular troops.

1926, T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, New York: Anchor, published 1991, page 104

Where it comes from

1. Proto-Indo-Iranian*drigu-
2. Middle Persiandlgwš“poor, needy”
3. Persianدرویش“poor; Sufi mystic”
4. Ottoman Turkishدرویش
5. Englishdervish

From Ottoman Turkish درویش (derviş), from Persian درویش (darvêš, “poor; Sufi mystic”), from Middle Persian dlgwš (driyōš, “poor, needy”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *drigu-, cognate with Sanskrit ध्रिगु (dhrigu, “needy”) and Avestan 𐬛𐬭𐬌𐬔𐬎 (driguš).