dervish English · revision 1572

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈdɜː(ɹ)vɪʃ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|tr|derviş]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|fa|درویش|tr=darvīsh|t=poor man, beggar]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) It was first spelled ''dervis''; the spelling ''dervish'' dates from the mid-19th century.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A Muslim friar who has taken vows of poverty and austerity (1585).^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A dervish is the Muslim equivalent of a monk or friar, a religious mendicant,^(AHD)^(Etymonline) and the Arabic equivalent is ''faqir''.^(Etymonline) Some orders are known for ecstatic devotions such as whirling or howling,^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) which gave rise to the phrases ''whirling dervish'' and ''howling dervish''^(AHD) and to the extended sense of a person full of frenzied energy.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1585 – ''dervis'', a Muslim religious mendicant.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1847 – the spelling ''dervish''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1850 – ''dervishism''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A member of any of various Muslim [[ascetic]] orders, such as the [[Sufi|alt=Sufis]], some known for ecstatic whirling dances and chanting.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Someone with abundant, often frenzied energy, or who whirls as if in a trance.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fakir]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}