jihad

Etymology

It is borrowed from Arabic جِهَاد (jihād, “struggle, contest, effort; holy war”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the verbal noun of a verb meaning "to endeavour, to strive, to wage holy war",^[2][4][6] from جَهَدَ (jahada, “to strive, apply oneself”).^[7][6] The OED glosses the Arabic noun as struggle or contest, and specifically holy war for the spreading of Islam;^[2] the Oxford Dictionary of English notes that its literal sense "effort" expresses, in Muslim thought, struggle on behalf of God and Islam.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The religious duty of Muslims to strive against unbelievers and to protect the Islamic community, including by war: 1832, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.^[2] Etymonline dates it from 1852,^[4] and Barnhart and MWU from 1869.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word is also spelled jehad.^[4][5][9] Etymonline notes that for a long time the English word referred only to the duty of religious war against unbelievers.^[4] From 1880 it was used figuratively for any fervent campaign for or against a person, idea or doctrine, like a crusade.^[2][3][4] From 1897 it is also recorded for the inner duty of a Muslim to strive for spiritual self-improvement, the greater jihad;^[2] the American Heritage Dictionary now lists this sense first.^[7]

Timeline

• 1832 – the Islamic duty to strive against unbelievers, including by war.^[2]
• 1852 – the spelling jehad.^[4]
• 1869 – a holy war on behalf of Islam.^[3][5]
• 1880 – figurative, a fervent campaign against a person or idea.^[2][3]
• 1897 – the inner struggle for spiritual self-improvement.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. In Islam, a holy war waged on behalf of the faith as a religious duty.^{[5][7][10][2]}
2. In Islam, the personal struggle of a believer for spiritual self-perfection and against evil.^[7][10][2]
3. A fervent campaign for or against a cause, idea or person: The new mayor launched a jihad against illegal parking.^[7][2][11]

Related words

• jihadist
• jihadi
• mujahid

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers