mufti English · revision 1383

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmʌfti/, /ˈmʊfti/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|ar|مُفْتٍ|tr=muftī|t=one who gives a legal opinion]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) the active participle of ''aftā'' “to give a legal decision”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[fatwa]].^(Etymonline) The sense “civilian dress” is probably the same word,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) perhaps from the dressing gown, cap and slippers traditionally worn by a mufti on the stage, thought to resemble plain clothes.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A Muslim jurist, and in Turkey the official head of the state religion (1586).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) Random House instead explains it from the mufti being a civil rather than military official.^(RHWU) A mufti was also, from 1833, a civilian.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1586 – a Muslim jurist or religious head.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1816 – civilian dress.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1833 – a civilian.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Civilian clothes, especially when worn by someone who usually wears a uniform.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A Muslim scholar who interprets religious law, [[sharia]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fatwa]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}