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• shiah
  shiah

  noun

  the Shiʿites.
• Shiah
  Shiah

  noun

  one of the two main branches of Islam (the other being the Sunni), making up a tenth or more of the entire Muslim population, and forming the majority in Iran and Iraq, which regards Mohammed's cousin Ali and his successors as the true imams

shiah

American  

[shee-uh] / ˈʃi ə /

Or Shiʿa

noun

Islam.

1. (used with a plural verb) the Shiʿites.

2. (used with a singular verb) Shiʿite.

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Shiah British  

/ ˈʃiːə /

noun

1. one of the two main branches of Islam (the other being the Sunni), making up a tenth or more of the entire Muslim population, and forming the majority in Iran and Iraq, which regards Mohammed's cousin Ali and his successors as the true imams

2. another name for Shiite

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adjective

1. designating or characteristic of this sect or its beliefs and practices

Etymology

Origin of shiah

First recorded in 1620–30, Shiʿah is from the Arabic word shīʿah literally, sect

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Shiah

I'm very good friends with his eldest son, Shiah, who plays with me now.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 19, 2012

Ali was assassinated near Nejef, which city is sacred to his memory, and his son Husein was killed at Kerbela; so these two cities are the greatest of the Shiah shrines.

From War in the Garden of Eden by Kermit Roosevelt

This made him suspect those who still adhered to the tenets of the Shiah sect, or, in other words, almost all the natives of Persia.

From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 13 by John Rudd

To make a pilgrimage to Kerbela, or to rest finally in its holy dust, or both, 36 constitutes the ambition of every Shiah.

From Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, Volume I (of 2) Including a Summer in the Upper Karun Region and a Visit to the Nestorian Rayahs by Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy) Bird

Jemal-ed-Din held a brief for the union of Sunni and Shiah, an idea which from time to time has found favour with some advanced leaders of the former faith.

From Persia Revisited by Thomas Edward Gordon