Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In Arabia and other Mohammedan countries, an old man; an elder.
- noun A religious chief among Mohammedans; a title of learned or devout men; master.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The head of an Arab family, or of a clan or a tribe; also, the chief magistrate of an Arab village. The name is also applied to Mohammedan ecclesiastics of a high grade.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The
leader of anArab village, family or smalltribe . - noun colloquial An
Islamic religious clergy ; the leader of an Islamic religiousorder . - noun An official
title for members of the royal family as well as someprominent families. - noun 1920s A romantic lover. (Can we
date this quote?) (from The Sheikh, 1921 film) - noun slang An
Arab , especially one dressed in traditional clothing.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the leader of an Arab village or family
- noun a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Asked as he piled into his chauffeur-driven four-wheel-drive vehicle if he presided at ceremonies like this every weekend, the 39-year-old Muslim leader who bears the title sheik, but prefers to go by his name, Hong Yang, issued a world-weary sigh.
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Page 21 once proclaimed Shagou, which is the corruption of the the Arabic word sheik, meaning a ruler.
The Autobiography of Nicholas Said; a Native of Bornou, Eastern Soudan, Central Africa 1873
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They're what they call sheik charges and they fire out that ball of molten copper, which will cut through a tank armor let alone a humvee.
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Jihadi Web forums lit up overnight Sunday with thousands of comments on the news of bin Laden's death, ranging from initial disbelief to euphoria that the man they call the "sheik" had been "martyred."
Nations Brace for Retaliation James Hookway 2011
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An Arab sheik is considered rich who has a hundred or two hundred tents, from sixty to a hundred camels, a thousand sheep and goats respectively.
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KING: Or "sheik" -- depends on how it's pronounced.
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Barring a sensational 'sheik'-up, 25 points and back to Championship football.
Express & Star 2009
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The publisher issues a statement of apology, acknowledging serious (but undefined) errors in the book, and makes a financial award to the sheik, who pledges to give the money to UNICEF (the sheik is a multi-billionaire).
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The sheik is a central figure in the benign-sounding Association of Islamic Philanthropic Projects in Lebanon, and says he was in his office the whole time, innocent of any crime.
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Turns out the sheik was a friendly and was protected from on high.
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