dervish

plural dervishes · alternative archaic darwaysh · alternative archaic darwesh · alternative archaic dervice · alternative archaic dervis · alternative archaic dervise

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

plural Dervishes

1. A member of a Sufi Muslim ascetic fraternity of mendicant friars.
2. historicalA citizen or inhabitant of the Taleh-based Darawiish (circa 1895–1920 C.E.), the polity territorially coterminous with modern Waqooyi Bari.