sheik

English

Alternative forms

• sheikh, shaykh

Etymology

From Arabic شَيْخ (šayḵ, “elder”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃeɪk/, /ʃik/
• Rhymes: -eɪk
• Homophones: shake, chic (different pronunciations)

Noun

sheik (plural sheiks)

1. The leader of an Arab village, family or small tribe.
2. An Islamic religious cleric; the leader of an Islamic religious order.
   • 2013 August 1, Islamic Online University Insights‎^[1], archived from the original on 25 October 2021, page 10:

     He then studied under a variety of scholars (shuyook) and institutes around the world in his quest for authentic knowledge.

3. (some Arab Gulf countries) An official title for members of the royal family as well as some prominent families.
4. (1920s) A romantic lover. (from the 1921 film The Sheik)
   • 1939, George Orwell, Coming Up for Air, part 1, chapter 1:

     When your last natural tooth goes, the time when you can kid yourself that you're a Hollywood sheik, is definitely at an end.

5. (slang) An Arab, especially one dressed in traditional clothing.
6. An honorific for specialists in spirituality, for example in Sufism.

Usage notes

The title is commonly used for religious leaders as a means of respect, in which case it does not imply an official status.

Related terms

• sheikha

Translations

leader of an Arab village, family or small tribe

• Albanian: sheik (sq) m
• Arabic: شَيْخ (ar) m (šayḵ)

  Egyptian Arabic: شيخ m (šēḵ)

• Armenian: շեյխ (hy) (šeyx)
• Avar: шайих (šajix)
• Azerbaijani: şeyx
• Belarusian: шэйх m (šejx)
• Bengali: শেখ (bn) (śekh)
• Bulgarian: шейх m (šejh)
• Catalan: xeic (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 謝赫／谢赫 (xièhè), 酋長／酋长 (zh) (qiúzhǎng)

• Czech: šejk (cs) m, šejch m, šajch m
• Dutch: sheik m
• Esperanto: ŝejko
• Estonian: šeik (et)
• Finnish: šeikki (fi), sheikki
• French: cheik (fr) m
• Galician: xeque m
• Georgian: შეიხი (šeixi)
• German: Scheich (de) m
• Greek: σεΐχης (el) m (seḯchis)
• Gujarati: શેખ m (śekh)
• Hebrew: שייח׳ / שֵׁיח m (sheykh)
• Hindi: शैख़ m (śaix), शेख (hi) m (śekh)
• Hungarian: sejk (hu)
• Icelandic: sjeik m
• Ido: sheiko (io)
• Indonesian: syekh (id)
• Italian: sceicco (it)
• Japanese: シャイフ (shaifu), シェイフ (sheifu)
• Kazakh: шайқы (şaiqy)
• Korean: 샤이크 (syaikeu)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: شێخ (ckb) (şêx)

  Northern Kurdish: şêx (ku)

• Kyrgyz: шайык (ky) (şayık)
• Macedonian: ше́ик m (šéik)
• Malay: syeikh (ms)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sjeik m

  Nynorsk: sjeik m

• Pashto: شيخ m (šayx)
• Persian:

  Classical Persian: شَیْخ (fa) (šayx)

  Iranian Persian: شِیخ (fa) (šeyx)

• Polish: szejk (pl) m
• Portuguese: xeque (pt) m
• Romanian: șeic (ro)
• Russian: шейх (ru) m (šejx)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ше̏ик m

  Roman: šȅik (sh) m

• Slovak: šejk m
• Slovene: šejk m
• Spanish: jeque (es) m
• Swedish: schejk (sv), shejk (sv) c
• Tagalog: heke
• Tajik: шайх (tg) (šayx)
• Turkish: şeyh (tr)
• Turkmen: şeyh
• Ukrainian: шейх m (šejx)
• Urdu: شَیخ m (śaix)
• Uyghur: شەيخ (sheyx)
• Uzbek: shayx (uz)
• Yiddish: שייך m (sheykh)

Islamic religious clergy

• Arabic: شَيْخ (ar) m (šayḵ)

  Egyptian Arabic: شيخ m (šēḵ)

• Armenian: շեյխ (hy) (šeyx)
• Avar: шайих (šajix)
• Bengali: শেখ (bn) (śekh)
• Bulgarian: шейх m (šejh)
• Chichewa: shehe
• Czech: šejk (cs) m, šejch m, šajch m
• Dutch: sheik m
• Finnish: šeikki (fi)
• Georgian: შეიხი (šeixi)
• German: Scheich (de) m
• Greek: σεΐχης (el) m (seḯchis)
• Gujarati: શેખ m (śekh)
• Hindi: शैख़ m (śaix), शेख (hi) m (śekh)
• Hungarian: sejk (hu)
• Japanese: シャイフ (shaifu), シェイフ (sheifu)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: شێخ (ckb) (şêx)

  Northern Kurdish: şêx (ku)

• Macedonian: ше́ик m (šéik)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sjeik m

  Nynorsk: sjeik m

• Persian:

  Classical Persian: شَیْخ (fa) (šayx)

  Iranian Persian: شِیخ (fa) (šeyx)

• Portuguese: xeque (pt) m
• Russian: шейх (ru) m (šejx)
• Spanish: jeque (es) m
• Swahili: shehe
• Swedish: shejk (sv) c, schejk (sv) c
• Tagalog: heke
• Tajik: шайх (tg) (šayx)
• Urdu: شَیخ m (śaix)
• Uyghur: شەيخ (sheyx)
• Yao: shehe

Gulf countries: official title for members of the royal family

• Arabic: شَيْخ (ar) m (šayḵ)

  Egyptian Arabic: شيخ m (šēḵ)

• Armenian: շեյխ (hy) (šeyx)
• Dutch: sheik m
• Esperanto: ŝejĥo
• Finnish: šeikki (fi)
• Georgian: შეიხი (šeixi)
• German: Scheich (de) m
• Greek: σεΐχης (el) m (seḯchis)
• Hungarian: sejk (hu)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: şêx (ku) m

• Macedonian: ше́ик m (šéik)
• Portuguese: xeque (pt) m
• Russian: шейх (ru) m (šejx)
• Spanish: jeque (es) m
• Swedish: shejk (sv) c, schejk (sv) c

1920s: romantic lover

• Bulgarian: донжуа́н (bg) m (donžuán)
• Dutch: sheik m
• Greek: γόης (el) (góis)
• Macedonian: донжуа́н m (donžuán)
• Russian: донжуа́н (ru) m (donžuán)

Anagrams

• hikes

Dutch

Etymology

From Arabic شَيْخ (šayḵ), from شَاخَ (šāḵa, “to age, grow old”).

Pronunciation

• (Netherlands) IPA^(key): /ʃɛi̯k/
• (Flanders) IPA^(key): /ʃɛːk/
• Rhymes: -ɛi̯k

Noun

sheik m (plural sheiks, diminutive sheikje n)

1. sheik

Swahili

Alternative forms

• shekh, sheikh

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic شَيْخ (šayḵ).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya)

  (file)

Noun

sheik (ma class, plural masheik)

1. sheik

   Synonym: shehe