noun · verb · 6 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.
jĭ-hăd'
jĭ-häd
jə-häd'
jē'-häd
jē'-hăd
/d͡ʒɪˈhæd/
/d͡ʒɪˈhɑːd/
/d͡ʒəˈhɑːd/
/ˈd͡ʒiːhæd/
/ˈd͡ʒiːhɑːd/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -æd
rhymes with -ɑːd
rhymes with -iːhæd
rhymes with -iːhɑːd
CMU ARPABET:JH IY1 HH AE0 D
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:JH IY1 HH AA0 D
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A holy war undertaken by Muslims.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: Islam, lifestyle, religion
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A personal spiritual struggle for self-improvement or against evil.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: Islam, lifestyle, religion, theology
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
An aggressive campaign for an idea.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
To participate in a jihad.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive, uncommon
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
a holy struggle or striving by a Muslim for a moral or spiritual or political goal
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: jehad
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: striving, nisus, pains, strain
6
noun
Meaning 6
a holy war waged by Muslims against infidels
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: jehad, international jihad
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: war, warfare
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Arabic جِهَاد (jihād, “struggle; effort”).
Across languages
Translations
95 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
xhihat
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Arabic:
جِهَاد
(jihād)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Armenian:
ջիհադ
(ǰihad)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Azerbaijani:
cihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Bashkir:
йыһат
(yıhat)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Basque:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Belarusian:
джыха́д
(džyxád)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Bengali:
জিহাদ
(jihad)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Bulgarian:
джиха́д
(džihád)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Catalan:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Chechen:
гӏазот
(ğazot)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Chinese Mandarin:
吉哈德
(jíhādé)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Crimean Tatar:
cihat
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Crimean Tatar:
cihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Czech:
džihád
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Danish:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Dutch:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Esperanto:
ĝihado
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Estonian:
džihaad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Finnish:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Finnish:
pyhä sota
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
French:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
French:
djihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Georgian:
ჯიჰადი
(ǯihadi)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
German:
Dschihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
German:
Djihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
German:
Jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Greek:
τζιχάντ
(tzichánt)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Gujarati:
જિહાદ
(jihād)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Hausa:
jihadi
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Hebrew:
גִּ׳יהַאד
(jihad)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Hindi:
जिहाद
(jihād)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Hindi:
जिहाद्
(jihād)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Hungarian:
dzsihád
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Icelandic:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Indonesian:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Interlingua:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Irish:
jiohád
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Italian:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Italian:
ǧihād
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Japanese:
ジハード
(jihādo)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Kazakh:
жиһад
(jihad)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Kazakh:
джихад
(cihad)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Korean:
지하드
(jihadeu)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Northern Kurdish:
cîhad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Kyrgyz:
жикат
(jikat)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Latvian:
džihāds
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Lithuanian:
džihadas
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Macedonian:
џихад
(džihad)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Malay:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Marathi:
जिहाद
(jihād)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Norwegian Bokmål:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Pashto:
جهاد
(jihād)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Dari:
جِهَاد
(jihād)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Iranian Persian:
جِهاد
(jehâd)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Polish:
dżihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Portuguese:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Punjabi:
ਜਿਹਾਦ
(jihād)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Romanian:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Russian:
джиха́д
(džixád)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Serbo-Croatian:
ђѝха̄д
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Serbo-Croatian:
џѝха̄д
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Serbo-Croatian:
đìhād
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Serbo-Croatian:
džìhād
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Sinhalese:
ජිහාඩ්
(jihāḍ)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Slovak:
džihád
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Slovene:
džihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Spanish:
yihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Swahili:
jihadi
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Swedish:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Tagalog:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Tajik:
ҷиҳод
(jihod)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Tamil:
ஜிஹாத்
(jihāt)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Tatar:
җиһад
(cihad)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Thai:
ญิฮาด
(yí-hâat)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Turkish:
cihat
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Turkmen:
jihad
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Ukrainian:
джиха́д
(džyxád)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Urdu:
جِہاد
(jihād)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Uyghur:
جىھاد
(jihad)
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Uzbek:
jihod
— holy war undertaken by Muslims
Finnish:
ristiretki
— aggressive campaign
Finnish:
pyhä sota
— aggressive campaign
Hindi:
जिहाद
(jihād)
— aggressive campaign
Hindi:
जिहाद्
(jihād)
— aggressive campaign
Polish:
dżihad
— aggressive campaign
Turkish:
mücadele
— aggressive campaign
Turkish:
savaşım
— aggressive campaign
Finnish:
kilvoittelu
— personal spiritual struggle
Hindi:
जिहाद
(jihād)
— personal spiritual struggle
Hindi:
जिहाद्
(jihād)
— personal spiritual struggle