Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

shah

/ʃɑː/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.81 in modern English

Syllables: shah
IPA: /ʃɑː/

10

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

1

Syllables

3

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A king of Persia or Iran.

noun

A supreme ruler in some West Asian, Central Asian or South Asian nations.

noun

A Ukrainian monetary unit.

name

Example Sentences

"We had a cordial welcome in Tehran from the shah and Empress Farah, a delightful banquet, and adequate time to discuss the Middle East and nuclear power affairs with the shah."

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian شاه (šâh), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (šāh), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /⁠xšāyaθiya⁠/). Doublet of check. More at chess.

Origin

Source language: Middle Persian

Word Breakdown

Root: *tek-, 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠, 𐏋, شاه, સાહ, साधु

Inflected Forms

shahs (plural) schah (alternative, archaic) šâh (alternative) šāh (alternative) shāh (alternative) s̲h̲āh (alternative) shahy (plural) shahiv (plural)

Derived Forms

shahdom

Phrases

Shah-Waardenburg syndrome Waardenburg-Shah syndrome

Frequently Paired Words

shahanshah shahbanu shahi Shahmukhi shahzada

Synonyms

shah of iran

Rhymes With

la ya ma ah ha da raw pa na nah sa ha-ha

Questions

How do you pronounce shah?: The recorded pronunciation is /ʃɑː/.
What does shah mean?: A king of Persia or Iran.
Where does shah come from?: It is traced to Middle Persian.

How to pronounce shah

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “shah”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ʃɑː/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “shah”.
Repeat and practice — Say “shah” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.