How do you pronounce ayatollah?

The recorded pronunciation is /aɪ.əˈtoʊl.ə/.

ayatollah

/aɪ.əˈtoʊl.ə/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.92 in modern English

Syllables: ay-a-tol-lah
IPA: /aɪ.əˈtoʊl.ə/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A religious leader in Twelverism.

noun

An authority on any subject.

Colloquial

Example Sentences

""It could also pave the way for the Iranian people to seize this unique opportunity and shape their own future," Falk clarified. “I doubt the Iranian people want to replace one ayatollah with another ayatollah.”"
"P.S. This writer does NOT speak as the Ayatollah of SM. (There isn't one.) If you really want to know more, talk to sadomasochists, or at least do some reading if you're too scared to ask."

Etymology

Borrowed from Iranian Persian آیَتُاللّٰه (âyato-l-lâh), from Classical Persian آیَةُاللّٰه (āyatu-l-lāh), from Arabic آيَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ (ʔāyatu llāhi, “sign of God”, from آيَة (ʔāya, “sign”) + اللّٰه (allāh, “God”)).

Origin

Source language: Arabic

Word Breakdown

Root: آيَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ, ء ل ه

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /aɪ.əˈtoʊl.ə/

Usage

Colloquial

Inflected Forms

ayatollahs (plural) ayatolla (alternative)

Rhymes With

cola ebola viola lola motorola angola hola loyola pensacola guardiola nola ola