Standard Lemma guide

jihad

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
  • Polish: dżihad — personal spiritual struggle
  • Swedish: jihad — personal spiritual struggle
  • Turkish: mücadele — personal spiritual struggle
  • Turkish: savaşım — personal spiritual struggle
Real reading context

jihad in complete knowledge articles