Meanings
plural ayatollahs · alternative ayatolla
- ShiaIslamA religious leader in Twelverism.
"It could also pave the way for the Iranian people to seize this unique opportunity and shape their own future," Falk clarified. “I doubt the Iranian people want to replace one ayatollah with another ayatollah.”
2026 March 5, Zvika Klein, quoting Ophir Falk, “Netanyahu adviser to 'Post': Best way to remove ayatollah threat is to remove ayatollahs”, in The Jerusalem Post, archived from the original on 10 Mar 2026 - colloquialAn authority on any subject.
P.S. This writer does NOT speak as the Ayatollah of SM. (There isn't one.) If you really want to know more, talk to sadomasochists, or at least do some reading if you're too scared to ask.
1983 February 5, Shiva, “SM/Feminism/Antisemitism”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 28, page 4
Origin
- Arabicآيَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ“sign of God”
- Iranian Persianآیَتُاللّٰه
- Englishayatollah
Borrowed from Iranian Persian آیَتُاللّٰه (âyato-l-lâh), from Classical Persian آیَةُاللّٰه (āyatu-l-lāh), from Arabic آيَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ (ʔāyatu llāhi, “sign of God”, from آيَة (ʔāya, “sign”) + اللّٰه (allāh, “God”)).
More words from Iranian Persian, Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic آيَةُ اللّٰه
- آيَةُ اللّٰه (ʔāyatu llāh)a religious leader
Bengali আয়াতুল্লাহ
- আয়াতুল্লাহ (aẏatullah)a religious leader
Bulgarian аятола́х
- аятола́х (ajatoláh)a religious leader
Catalan aiatol·là
- aiatol·làa religious leader
Chinese Mandarin 阿亞圖拉 /阿亚图拉
- 阿亞圖拉 /阿亚图拉 (āyàtúlā)a religious leader
Czech ajatolláh
- ajatolláha religious leader
Danish ayatollah
- ayatollaha religious leader
Dutch ayatollah
- ayatollaha religious leader
Esperanto ajatolo
- ajatoloa religious leader
Estonian ajatolla
- ajatollaa religious leader
Finnish ajatollah
- ajatollaha religious leader
French ayatollah
- ayatollaha religious leader
German Ajatollah
- Ajatollaha religious leader
Greek αγιατολάχ
- αγιατολάχ (agiatolách)a religious leader
Hebrew אייתוללה
- אייתוללהa religious leader
Hindi आयतुल्लाह
- आयतुल्लाह (āytullāh)a religious leader
Hungarian ajatollah
- ajatollaha religious leader
Indonesian ayatullah
- ayatullaha religious leader
Italian ayatollah, aiatollà
- ayatollaha religious leader
- aiatollàa religious leader
Japanese アヤトラ
- アヤトラ (ayatora)a religious leader
Korean 아야톨라
- 아야톨라 (ayatolla)a religious leader
Latvian ājatolla
- ājatollaa religious leader
Lithuanian ajatolà
- ajatolàa religious leader
Malay ayatollah
- ayatollaha religious leader
Polish ajatollah
- ajatollaha religious leader
Portuguese aiatolá
- aiatoláa religious leader
Russian аятолла́
- аятолла́ (ajatollá)a religious leader
Spanish ayatolá
- ayatoláa religious leader
Swedish ayatolla
- ayatollaa religious leader
Thai อายะตุลลอหฺ
- อายะตุลลอหฺ (aa-yá-dtun-lɔɔ)a religious leader
Turkish ayetullah
- ayetullaha religious leader
Ukrainian аятола́
- аятола́ (ajatolá)a religious leader
Urdu آیَتُ ٱللہ
- آیَتُ ٱللہ (āyatu llāh)a religious leader
Cite this entry
ayatollah. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ayatollah
“ayatollah.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ayatollah. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ayatollah,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ayatollah.
Source: ayatollah on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.