spahija

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish سپاهی (sipahi), from Persian سپاهی (sepâhi, “soldier”). Akin to sìpāh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spǎxija/
• Hyphenation: spa‧hi‧ja
• Rhymes: -ija

Noun

spàhija m (Cyrillic spelling спа̀хија)

1. (historical) spahi
2. (regional, obsolete) an affluent Islamic head of household in Bosnia and Herzegovina

   Hasan-spahija ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   Omer-spahija ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Declension

Declension of spahija

	singular	plural
nominative	spàhija	spàhije
genitive	spahije	spahija
dative	spahiji	spahijama
accusative	spahiju	spahije
vocative	spahijo	spahije
locative	spahiji	spahijama
instrumental	spahijom	spahijama

Derived terms

• spáho
• spahìluk

References

• “spahija”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025
• Škaljić, Abdulah (1966) Turcizmi u srpskohrvatskom jeziku, Sarajevo: Svjetlost, page 570