marabout
English
Etymology
From French marabout, from Portuguese maraboto, marabuto, from Moroccan Arabic مْرَابِط (mrabeṭ) (standard Arabic مُرَابِط (murābiṭ, “soldier stationed in fortified outpost”)).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmaɹəbuːt/
Noun
marabout (plural marabouts)
- A Muslim holy man or mystic, especially in parts of North Africa. [from 17th c.]
- 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York Review Books 2006, p. 38:
- one of their principal targets was the marabouts – or holy men and leaders of mystic orders – whom they accused both of corrupting the faith by their espousal of mysticism and of being the ‘domestic animals of colonialism’.
- 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York Review Books 2006, p. 38:
- The tomb or shrine of such a person. [from 19th c.]
Derived terms
- maraboutic
- maraboutism
Translations
holy man
|
tomb
|
Anagrams
- tamboura
French
Alternative forms
- marabou
Etymology
Arabic مُرَابِط (murābiṭ).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ma.ʁa.bu/
Audio (file)
Noun
marabout m (plural marabouts)
- (religion) marabout
- (zoology) marabou, stork of the Leptoptilos genus
Derived terms
- marabouter
- maraboutage
- maraboutisme
- maraboutiste
Descendants
- → Catalan: marabú
- → English: marabout
- → Spanish: marabú
Further reading
- “marabout”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.