noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˈkeɪlɪf/
/ˈkælɪf/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -eɪlɪf
CMU ARPABET:K AE1 L AH0 F
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The holder of a monarchical title based on a claim to be a successor of Muhammad.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
The Abbasid caliphs patronized art and science beside religious developments ushering in the Islamic Golden Age when their capital Baghdad began to flourish as a center of knowledge, culture and trade.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: cleric
2
noun
Meaning 2
Alternative letter-case form of caliph.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
the civil and religious leader of a Muslim state considered to be a representative of Allah on earth
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
many radical Muslims believe a Khalifah will unite all Islamic lands and people and subjugate the rest of the world
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: calif, kaliph, kalif, khalif, khalifah
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: Muslim, Moslem, ruler, swayer
Narrower terms: Ali
History
Etymology
From Middle English calife, caliphe, from Old French caliphe, from Medieval Latin calipha, from Arabic خَلِيفَة (ḵalīfa, “caliph”) and خَلِيف (ḵalīf, “successor”).
Across languages
Translations
89 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
kalif
— political leader of the Muslim world
Amharic:
ኸሊፍ
(xälif)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Arabic:
خَلِيفَة
(ḵalīfa)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Arabic:
خليفة
(ḵalīfa)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Armenian:
խալիֆ
(xalif)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Armenian:
ամիրապետ
(amirapet)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Azerbaijani:
xəlifə
— political leader of the Muslim world
Bashkir:
хәлифә
(xəlifə)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Belarusian:
халі́ф
(xalíf)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Bengali:
খলিফা
(kholipha)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Bulgarian:
хали́ф
(halíf)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Catalan:
califa
— political leader of the Muslim world
Chinese Mandarin:
哈里發 /哈里发
(hālǐfā)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Crimean Tatar:
halife
— political leader of the Muslim world
Czech:
kalif
— political leader of the Muslim world
Czech:
chalífa
— political leader of the Muslim world
Danish:
kalif
— political leader of the Muslim world
Dutch:
kalief
— political leader of the Muslim world
Esperanto:
kalifo
— political leader of the Muslim world
Esperanto:
ĥalifo
— political leader of the Muslim world
Estonian:
kaliif
— political leader of the Muslim world
Faroese:
kaliffur
— political leader of the Muslim world
Finnish:
kalifi
— political leader of the Muslim world
French:
calife
— political leader of the Muslim world
Georgian:
ხალიფა
(xalipa)
— political leader of the Muslim world
German:
Kalif
— political leader of the Muslim world
German:
Kalifin (cf. Päpstin)
— political leader of the Muslim world
German:
Chalif
— political leader of the Muslim world
Greek:
χαλίφης
(chalífis)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Ancient Greek:
χαλιφᾶς
(khaliphâs)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Hebrew:
ח׳ליפה
— political leader of the Muslim world
Hebrew:
חָלִיף
(khalif)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Hebrew:
כָּלִיף
(kalif)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Hindi:
ख़लीफ़ा
(xalīfā)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Hindi:
खलीफा
(khalīphā)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Hungarian:
kalifa
— political leader of the Muslim world
Ido:
kalifo
— political leader of the Muslim world
Indonesian:
khalifah
— political leader of the Muslim world
Interlingua:
califa
— political leader of the Muslim world
Irish:
cailif
— political leader of the Muslim world
Italian:
califfo
— political leader of the Muslim world
Japanese:
カリフ
(karifu)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Japanese:
ハリーファ
— political leader of the Muslim world
Kazakh:
халиф
(xalif)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Korean:
칼리파
(kallipa)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Central Kurdish:
خەلیفە
(xelîfe)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Northern Kurdish:
xelîfe
— political leader of the Muslim world
Kyrgyz:
халиф
(halif)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Kyrgyz:
калиф
(kalif)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Kyrgyz:
калыйпа
(kalıypa)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Latvian:
kalifs
— political leader of the Muslim world
Lithuanian:
kalifas
— political leader of the Muslim world
Macedonian:
калиф
(kalif)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Macedonian:
халиф
(halif)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Malay:
khalifah
— political leader of the Muslim world
Maranao:
halipa
— political leader of the Muslim world
Norwegian Bokmål:
kalif
— political leader of the Muslim world
Norwegian Nynorsk:
kalif
— political leader of the Muslim world
Pashto:
خليفه
(xalifá)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Dari:
خَلِیفَه
(xalīfa)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Iranian Persian:
خَلیفِه
(xalife)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Polish:
kalif
— political leader of the Muslim world
Portuguese:
califa
— political leader of the Muslim world
Romanian:
calif
— political leader of the Muslim world
Russian:
хали́ф
(xalíf)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Russian:
кали́ф
(kalíf)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Serbo-Croatian:
ка̀лӣф
— political leader of the Muslim world
Serbo-Croatian:
ха̀лӣф
— political leader of the Muslim world
Serbo-Croatian:
kàlīf
— political leader of the Muslim world
Serbo-Croatian:
hàlīf
— political leader of the Muslim world
Slovak:
kalif
— political leader of the Muslim world
Slovene:
kalif
— political leader of the Muslim world
Spanish:
califa
— political leader of the Muslim world
Swahili:
khalifa
— political leader of the Muslim world
Swedish:
kalif
— political leader of the Muslim world
Tagalog:
halipa
— political leader of the Muslim world
Tajik:
халифа
(xalifa)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Tatar:
хәлифә
(xälifä)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Thai:
กาหลิบ
— political leader of the Muslim world
Thai:
คอลีฟะห์
— political leader of the Muslim world
Turkish:
halife
— political leader of the Muslim world
Ottoman Turkish:
خلیفه
(halife)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Turkmen:
halypa
— political leader of the Muslim world
Turkmen:
halif
— political leader of the Muslim world
Ukrainian:
халі́ф
(xalíf)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Urdu:
خَلِیفَہ
(xalīfa)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Uyghur:
خەلىپە
(xelipe)
— political leader of the Muslim world
Uzbek:
xalifa
— political leader of the Muslim world
Vietnamese:
kha-lip
— political leader of the Muslim world
