akhund

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian آخوند (âxund), of unclear etymology.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈkuːnd/

Noun

akhund (plural akhunds)

1. (chiefly historical) A spiritual leader in Persia, parts of Central Asia and Xinjiang, China.
   • 1874, William Henry Paget, A Record of the Expeditions Undertaken against the North-west Frontier Tribes:

     The Akhund of Swat, conscious of past deeds deserving of retribution, evidently conceived objects on our part beyond the punishment of the immediate offenders on the Black Mountain.

   • 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 20:

     He was Khiva's akhund, or spiritual leader, who reminded the Khan that his victory had been won through treachery, and warned him that butchering the prisoners would merely worsen the crime in the eyes of God.

   • 2007, Sana Haroon, Frontier of Faith, Columbia University Press, page 41:

     Yet Sayyid Akbar was a weak ruler and produced no capable heirs, at least in the opinion of the Akhund.

2. (colloquial, Central Asia or Xinjiang) Uyghur; Dungan; Hui Muslim

Translations

(historical) a spiritual leader in Persia, parts of Central Asia and Xinjiang, China

• Arabic: آخُونْد m (ʔāḵūnd)
• Armenian: ախունդ (hy) (axund), ախոնդ (hy) (axond)
• Azerbaijani: axund
• Bengali: আখন্দ (bn) (akhondo)
• Chinese:

  Dungan: ахун (ahun)

  Mandarin: 阿訇 (zh) (āhōng)

• German: Achund m
• Japanese: アホン (ahon)
• Kazakh: ақын (kk) (aqyn) (now is a kind of a traditional poet, "aqyn")
• Kyrgyz: акын (ky) (akın) (also a kind of a traditional poet, "aqyn"), акун (ky) (akun)
• Pashto: آخوند m (āxwᶕnd)
• Persian: آخوند (fa) (âxund), آخوند (fa) (âxond)
• Russian: аху́н (ru) m (axún), аху́нд m (axúnd)
• Tajik: охунд (oxund)
• Turkish: ahund
• Urdu: آخوند (ur) m (āxund)
• Uyghur: ئاخۇن (axun)
• Uzbek: oxund (uz)

Anagrams

• dukhan