effendi
See also: efendî
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish افندی (efendi), from Greek αφέντη (afénti), vocative of αφέντης (aféntis), from Ancient Greek αὐθέντης (authéntēs, “lord, master”). Doublet of authentic.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛˈfɛndi/
Noun
effendi (plural effendis or effendi)
- An educated or well-respected man in an eastern Mediterranean or Arab country; often used as a title of respect or courtesy in Turkey or a former Ottoman territory.
- 1929 November 30, Judah L. Kaufman, quotee, “BRITISH LABOR HAILS PALESTINE WORKERS; […]”, in The New York Times[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 December 2025:
- The real problem of the Arabian population in Palestine is how to get rid of the economic domination and control by approximately 100 families of effendi who now own the land, keeping the fellaheen in obscurity and ignorance and subjecting them to merciless exploitation.
Translations
title of respect
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