caliphate

American  

[kal-uh-fayt, -fit, kay-luh-] / ˈkæl əˌfeɪt, -fɪt, ˈkeɪ lə- /

Or califate,

noun

• caliphates
  plural

1. the rank, jurisdiction, or government of a caliph.

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caliphate British  

/ ˈkeɪlɪˌfeɪt, ˈkæl-, -fɪt /

noun

1. the office, jurisdiction, or reign of a caliph

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• caliphates
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of caliphate

First recorded in 1725–35; caliph + -ate ³

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Explanation

Historically, a caliphate was an area where religious Muslims lived under the leadership of a caliph, who was considered to be a successor to Muhammad, Islam's prophet and founder. A caliphate is a kind of state, but because it's based on religion, it's not bound by the international laws that govern nation-states. The earliest caliphates were formed after Muhammad's death in 632, as a way to continue his teachings. The last political caliphate, in the Ottoman Empire, ended in 1923. In more recent times, the extremist militants known as ISIL have declared themselves to be a caliphate. The word is rooted in the Arabic khalifa, "successor."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

caliphate caliphates

After the caliphate fell, al-Hol swelled to the size of a city holding more than 70,000 people in mid-2019, according to the Department of Defense.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026

Since the defeat of IS in Syria in 2019, this area has been a holding ground for the remnants of the group's so-called "caliphate".

From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2026

The jihadists' objective is indeed "the fall of the junta" and the "establishment of a caliphate", Nicolas Lerner, France's foreign intelligence chief said Monday in an interview on France Inter radio.

From Barron's ● Nov. 11, 2025

He’s also joining a U.S. coalition against Islamic State, whose fighters are still active in Syria and would like to reconstitute its caliphate in the country.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2025

“I am famous from the courts of Chang’an to the caliphate of Baghdad for my honesty. They speak of my bargains among the tongueless island tribes—they click about me, like you do, Rasseem.”

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

And so we learn about the various mainstream caliphates over the centuries, the Umayyads and the Abbasids, and ultimately the Ottoman sultan-caliphs based in Istanbul who took on the role of “God’s shadow on earth.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026

It moved westward to the Middle East about 1200 years ago, a date that coincides with the expansion of trade and warfare by two Islamic caliphates, the Umayyad and the Abbasid.

From Science Magazine ● May 19, 2024

Under successive caliphates and Muslim dynasties, the dead of Cairo have been buried in this part of the city, beneath the low range of the Muqattam Hills.

From BBC ● May 26, 2023

Power often rested in the hands of local governors, who exploited regional tensions or weaknesses to establish their own dynasties and even their own rival caliphates, as in Al- Andalus.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

The division of the Arabian Empire into rival caliphates did not check the spread of Islam.

From Early European History by Hutton Webster

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