dervish
/ˈdɜːvɪʃ/ noun
Forms dervishes darwaysh darwesh dervice dervis dervise
- noun (historical) A citizen or inhabitant of Darawiish (circa 1895–1920 C.E.), an anti-colonial polity in modern Somalia headed by Sufis.
- noun (historical) One of the followers of Muhammad Ahmad, the Mahdi of the Sudan, in the 1880s.
- noun (by extension) Any irregular guerrilla fighter resembling the Sudanese Mahdi in equipment, uniform, tactics, etc.
- noun A member of a Sufi Muslim ascetic fraternity of mendicant friars.
- noun (historical) A citizen or inhabitant of the Taleh-based Darawiish (circa 1895–1920 C.E.), the polity territorially coterminous with modern Waqooyi Bari.
Synonyms
Etymology
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).
From Turkish derviş, from Persian درویش (darviš).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A Turkish or Persian monk, especially one who professes extreme poverty and leads an austere life.
Etymology [Per. derw, fr. OPer. derew to beg, ask alms: cf. F. derviche.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dervish”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details