Sunni

[soon-ee]

noun

Islam.

1. Also called Sunnite. a member of one of the two great religious divisions of Islam, regarding the first four caliphs as legitimate successors of Muhammad and stressing the importance of Sunna as a basis for law.

2. (used with a plural verb),  the Sunni Muslims.

Sunni

/ ˈsʌnɪ /

noun

1. one of the two main branches of orthodox Islam (the other being the Shiah), consisting of those who acknowledge the authority of the Sunna

2. another term for Sunnite

Other Word Forms

• Sunnism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Sunni¹

1620–30; < Arabic sunnī, derivative of sunnah Sunna

Example Sentences

The movement caught on with young people who didn’t like Yemen’s government, which was aligned with rival Sunni Muslim groups, and cooperated with Washington in its war on terrorism.

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The third bloc was the Sunni Islamist alliance, which has a complex and ambiguous relationship with American power.

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Others melted into sympathetic, conservative Sunni Arab communities and are trying to rebuild.

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However, the Constitution recognises Sunni Islam, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Christianity as minority religions, each of which has its own representatives in the Iranian parliament.

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"Iraq has seen the American army, then civil war between Sunnis and Shiites, and now there's ISIS. We've been through many incessant conflicts, but we still need peace because we believe in humanity," she said.

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