jihad

• jehad

Borrowed from Arabic جِهَاد (jihād, “struggle; effort”).

• enPR: jĭ-hăd', jĭ-häd, jə-häd', jē'-häd, jē'-hăd, IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɪˈhæd/, /d͡ʒɪˈhɑːd/, /d͡ʒəˈhɑːd/, /ˈd͡ʒiːhæd/, /ˈd͡ʒiːhɑːd/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æd, -ɑːd, -iːhæd, -iːhɑːd

jihad (countable and uncountable, plural jihads)

1. (Islam) A holy war undertaken by Muslims.
   • 1938 August 22, “Holy War”, in Time:

     Young Iraqis of both sects obeyed the imams' ruling last week by rushing to conscription offices in hot, dirty, dusty Bagdad to offer themselves or their money for the jihad.

   • 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 26:

     Small groups of killers, the scent of blood in their nostrils, now fanned out by taxi, bicycle or even on horseback into the surrounding countryside, spreading the word that a general jihad, or ‘holy war’, had broken out.

   • 2009 July 10, Eric Schmitt, “Qaeda Branch Steps Up Raids in North Africa”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 26 January 2021:

     Still other officials say the mayhem may be partly a result of a vicious rivalry between two Qaeda subcommanders in Mali, Mokhtar Belmokhtar and Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, a clash that underscores the kind of autonomous jihad cells that counterterrorism officials say are particularly hard to combat.

   • 2013 May 8, Mona Mahmood, Ian Black, The Guardian:

     The Jabhat al-Nusra media, with songs about jihad and martyrdom, is extremely influential.

2. (Islam, theology) A personal spiritual struggle for self-improvement and/or against evil.
   • 2023 May 3, “Update on Terrorism-Related Case Under Internal Security Act”, in Internal Security Department (Singapore)‎^[2], archived from the original on 2 April 2025:

     As a result, Amirull has renounced his radical beliefs in armed jihad and the use of violence. He now sees jihad as caring for his parents, improving himself, and contributing to society.

3. (by extension) An aggressive campaign for an idea.
   • 1984, 41:18 from the start, in Dune‎^[3] (Science Fiction), spoken by Reverend Mother Ramallo, →OCLC:

     And now, the prophecy. One will come, the voice from the outer world, bringing the holy war, the jihad, which will cleanse the universe and bring us out of darkness.

• mujahid

jihad (third-person singular simple present jihads, present participle jihading, simple past and past participle jihaded)

1. To participate in a jihad.

• crusade
• holy war
• infidel

• Djahi, hadji

From Arabic جِهَاد (jihād, “struggle; effort”).

jihad c (uncountable)

1. jihad

• jihadisme
• jihadist
• jihadistisk

• “jihad” in Den Danske Ordbog

• Audio:

  (file)

jihad m (plural jihads, diminutive jihadje n)

1. alternative form of djihaad

• jihadstrijder

• jihadi
• jihadist

• džihad

Learned borrowing from Arabic جِهَاد (jihād).

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʒihɑd/, [ˈdʒiɦɑ̝d]
• IPA^(key): /ˈjihɑd/, [ˈjiɦɑ̝d]
• IPA^(key): /ˈtsihɑd/, [ˈts̠iɦɑ̝d]
• Rhymes: -ihɑd
• Syllabification^(key): ji‧had
• Hyphenation^(key): ji‧had

jihad

1. jihad (Muslims' holy war)

• jihadismi
• jihadisti

• “jihad”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[4] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

• IPA^(key): /dʒi.ad/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

jihad m (plural jihads)

1. alternative form of djihad

• ǧihād (academical transcription of the Arabic word)

Borrowed from English jihad.

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒiˈad/, (careful style) /d͡ʒiˈhad/

jihad f (invariable)

1. jihad

• jihadista

Unadapted borrowing from Arabic جِهَاد (jihād, “struggle; effort”).

jihad f (plural jihads)

1. (Islam) jihad (holy war undertaken by Muslims)

• jihadismo
• jihadista

• “jihad”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from French djihad.

jihad n (plural jihaduri)

1. jihad

From Arabic جِهَاد (jihād, “struggle; effort”)

jihad c or n

1. jihad

Almost always as "jihaden" (common gender) in the definite, though "ett jihad" is fairly common.

• jihadism
• jihadist
• jihadistisk

• “jihad”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “jihad”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Unadapted borrowing from Arabic جِهَاد (jihād, “struggle; effort”).

• (Standard Tagalog)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒihad/ [ˈd͡ʒiː.hɐd̪̚]
    • IPA^(key): (no palatal assimilation) /ˈdjihad/ [ˈd̪jiː.hɐd̪̚]
    • Rhymes: -ihad
  • IPA^(key): /d͡ʒiˈhad/ [d͡ʒɪˈhad̪̚] (prescriptive from Arabic)
    • IPA^(key): (no palatal assimilation) /djiˈhad/ [d̪jɪˈhad̪̚] (prescriptive from Arabic)
    • Rhymes: -ad
• Syllabification: ji‧had

jihad or jihád (Baybayin spelling ᜇ᜔ᜌᜒᜑᜇ᜔) (Islam)

1. jihad (holy war undertaken by Muslims)

• “jihad”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• “jihad”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018