xeriff

English

Etymology 1

From Arabic شَرِيفِيّ (šarīfiyy).

Noun

xeriff (plural xeriffs)

1. Obsolete form of ashrafi.
   • 1707, Alexander Justice, Samuel Ricard, A General Treatise of Monies and Exchanges; In which those of all Trading Nations are particularly described and considered, page 12:

     The Turkish Sultani, or Egyptian Xeriff, being a Gold Coin, with which the Barbary and Venetian Chequeens and Marienberg Ducat, very near agree to 53 1/2 Grains.

Etymology 2

Noun

xeriff (plural xeriffs)

1. Obsolete form of sharif.
   • 1795, William Guthrie, A New Geographical, Historical, and Commercial Grammar:

     The emperors or kings of Morocco are the successors of those sovereigns of that country who are called xeriffs, and whose powers resembled that of the caliphate of the Saracens.

   • 1838, Anna Maria Porter, Don Sebastian; or, The house of Braganza, page 51:

     Don Emanuel de Castro now ventured in council to address his sovereign, informing him that their Moorish ally had grossly exaggerated his ability and the inclinations of the Africans, as they appeared mostly unanimous in defence of the present Xeriff's authority.

References

• “xeriff”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.