sherif
Americannoun
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a governor of Mecca descended from Muhammad.
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an Arab chief, prince, or ruler.
noun
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a descendant of Mohammed through his daughter Fatima
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(formerly) the governor of Mecca
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an honorific title accorded to any Muslim ruler
Etymology
Origin of sherif
First recorded in 1590–1600, sherif is from the Arabic word sharīf “exalted (person)”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Not long after, the sherif took a straw poll.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 7, 2016
I married the daughter of an old sherif, and became the recognized chief of my section of the tribe.
From Time Magazine Archive
Reluctantly, the Trib shot down the sherif and later sank the frater.
From Time Magazine Archive
There is no sherif, from the chief down to the poorest among them, who has not been brought up among the Bedouins; and many of them are also married to Bedouin girls.
From Travels in Arabia; comprehending an account of those territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans regard as sacred by John Lewis Burckhardt
Robyn commaundyd his wight yonge men, Under the grene-wode tree, They shulde lye in that same sute That the sherif myght them see.
From Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws Popular Ballads of the Olden Times - Fourth Series by Frank Sidgwick
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
