mufti

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmʌfti/, /ˈmʊfti/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Arabic مُفْتٍ (muftī, “one who gives a legal opinion”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the active participle of aftā “to give a legal decision”.^[2][3][4] It is related to fatwa.^[4] The sense “civilian dress” is probably the same word,^[2][3][4][5] perhaps from the dressing gown, cap and slippers traditionally worn by a mufti on the stage, thought to resemble plain clothes.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Muslim jurist, and in Turkey the official head of the state religion (1586).^[7][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The sense of plain clothes worn by someone entitled to wear a uniform began as a British army term in India in 1816.^[4][3][7][5] Random House instead explains it from the mufti being a civil rather than military official.^[6] A mufti was also, from 1833, a civilian.^[7]

Timeline

• 1586 – a Muslim jurist or religious head.^[7][3][4][5]
• 1816 – civilian dress.^[7][3][4][5]
• 1833 – a civilian.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Civilian clothes, especially when worn by someone who usually wears a uniform.
2. A Muslim scholar who interprets religious law, sharia.

Related words

• fatwa

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press