hafiz

[ hah-fiz ]

noun

a title of respect for a Muslim who knows the Quran by heart.

Origin of hafiz

First recorded in 1655–65; from Persian, from Arabic ḥāfiẓ literally, “a guard, one who keeps (in memory),” from ḥāfiẓa “to guard, memorize”

Words Nearby hafiz

Other definitions for Hafiz (2 of 2)

Hafiz

[ hah-fiz ]

noun

Shams ud-din Mohammed, c1320–89?, Persian poet.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hafiz in a sentence

The mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai massacre and head of Lashkar-e-Taiba, hafiz Saeed, make no effort to hide.
Pakistan’s Impossible Year: Elections, Army Intrigue, and More | Bruce Riedel | December 29, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
“The bounty has made hafiz Saeed a global name,” a member of his entourage told The Daily Beast, wishing not to be named.
Jihadist Hafiz Saeed Speaks to Journalists | Nazar Ul Islam, Jahanzeb Aslam | April 5, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
“Usually such a bounty is placed on persons who are in hiding, hafiz Saeed is not,” he said.
Jihadist Hafiz Saeed Speaks to Journalists | Nazar Ul Islam, Jahanzeb Aslam | April 5, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
I remember crying my eyes out when hafiz Al-Assad, the father of Bashar, died in 2000.
Arab Spring: Revolutionaries Reflect on the One-Year Anniversary | Mike Giglio | January 25, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
The founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group that attacked Mumbai in 2008, hafiz Saeed, was the host and master of ceremonies.
Pakistan's Jihadist Threat: Obama's Terrorism Challenge in 2012 | Bruce Riedel | December 22, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST

I will sing an ode to thee, as hafiz has written and sung many a one to his; peace be to his memory!
Confessions of a Thug | Philip Meadows Taylor
Only he despises the verse of hafiz who is not himself by nature noble.
Rubiyt of Omar Khayym and Salmn and Absl | Omar Khayym and Ralph Waldo Emerson
We add to these fragments of hafiz a few specimens from other poets.
Rubiyt of Omar Khayym and Salmn and Absl | Omar Khayym and Ralph Waldo Emerson
Mr. Stepney sighed and related all that he knew of the redoubtable Muley hafiz on the way to the rooms.
The Angel of Terror | Edgar Wallace
Muley hafiz was being lionised in France just then, to the annoyance of the Spanish authorities, who had put a price on his head.
The Angel of Terror | Edgar Wallace

British Dictionary definitions for hafiz (1 of 2)

hafiz

/ (ˈhɑːfɪz) /

nounIslam

a title for a person who knows the Koran by heart

Origin of hafiz

from Persian, from Arabic hāfiz, from hafiza to guard

British Dictionary definitions for Hafiz (2 of 2)

Hafiz

/ (ˈhɑːfɪz) /

noun

Shams al-Din Muhammad (ˌshæmz ælˌdɪn məʊˈhæmɪd). ?1326–90, Persian lyric poet, best known for his many short poems about love and wine, often treated as religious symbols

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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