ayatollah
ayatollah
noun ah-yah-TOL-lah Rare
Origin: From Arabic āyat Allāh (sign of God).
Usage Note
Ayatollah is a high-ranking Shia Muslim religious title and is used in Italian in both its strict sense and figuratively to describe any dogmatic authority figure. It is an invariable loanword: gli ayatollah. The stress falls on the third syllable.
Examples
"L'ayatollah ha rilasciato una dichiarazione ufficiale."
Natural Translation
The ayatollah issued an official statement.
Related Words
Explore Italian by topic