Hamas
UK /həˈmæs/ · US /həˈmɑs/ proper noun
Forms Khamas
- proper noun A Palestinian Islamist militant group and political organization.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Arabic حَمَاس (ḥamās, literally “enthusiasm”), an acronym for حَرَكَة اَلْمُقَاوَمَةِ الْإِسْلَامِيَّةِ (ḥarakat al-muqāwama l-ʔislāmiyya, “Islamic Resistance Movement”).
Borrowed from Arabic حَمَاس (ḥamās, literally “enthusiasm”). The all-capitalized form reflects the term's origin as the Arabic abbreviation of حَرَكَة اَلْمُقَاوَمَةِ الْإِسْلَامِيَّةِ (ḥarakat al-muqāwama l-ʔislāmiyya, “Islamic Resistance Movement”).
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “Hamas”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details