sunni
/ˈsʊni/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.48 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Belonging or relating to the branch of Islam based on the Qur'an, the Kutub al-Sittah (the hadiths which record the Sunnah) and that places emphasis on the Sahabah.
noun
A follower of Sunni Islam.
name
Ellipsis of Sunni Islam.
Example Sentences
- "I therefore strongly advocate the formation of a local capital but not at Hillah, which is too Sunni and near Baghdad"
- "members […] came to view themselves collectively as the righteous descendants of Husayn confronting an evil and fundamentally alien ruler: a shah more Zoroastrian than Muslim, more Sunni than Shi'i, more Arab than Iranian, more Yazid than Husayn."
- "Many Shias who had become more Sunni in their religious practices reverted back to their original sect."
- "In Islam, Sunni is a more triumphant version of the faith than Shia, which stresses the importance of suffering, following the founder Ali, who was persecuted."
- "Sunni has four schools of Islamic doctrine and law — Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali — which uniquely interpret the Hadith, or recorded oral traditions of Muhammad."
- "Sunni is the mainstream religion, based in Mecca, and is generally more moderate."
Etymology
From Arabic سُنِّيّ (sunniyy), from سُنَّة (sunna, “Sunna”) + ـِيّ (-iyy). By surface analysis, Sunna + -i.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: سُنِّيّ, س ن ن
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Religion.
Inflected Forms
more Sunni (comparative)
most Sunni (superlative)
Sunnī (alternative)
Sunnee (alternative)
Sunnis (plural)