‖ shereef
(ʃəˈriːf)
Forms: 6 sherife, xarifo, xerifo, serif(f)o, 7 seriph, -iff, zeriff(e, xeriff(e, ceriffe, sheriffe, shreeve, 7– sharif, 7–8 scherif, 7, 9 sherif(f, 7–9 cheriff, 8 shirreff, -eef, cherif(fe, cheref, shariff, xarif, 9 sherriff(e, -eef, sharife, 9– shareef; pl. 9 shorfa.
[Arab. sharīf noble, glorious, f. sharafa to be exalted.]
1. A descendant of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima. In some of the early quots. taken spec. for a Muslim priest.
| 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. ii. 104 Wee..tooke a Pangaia of the Moores, which had a priest of theirs in it, which in their language they call a Sherife. 1600 Pory tr. Leo's Africa ii. 50 A Seriffo or Mahumetan priest. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 30 As for the Kindred of Mahomet, whom they call Scherifs, they wear a green Turban. 1704 J. Pitts Relig. & Mann. Mohammetans vii. 90 The Sultaun of Mecca..is a Shirreeff, i.e. one of the Race of Mohammet. 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) ii. iv. ii. 102 note, The Cheriffs, successors of Mahommed. 1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 309/2 Among them are many sherifs, or pretended descendants of Mohammed. 1860 G. Bennett Gatherings Naturalist Austral. 443 The mosque of El Haibee..contains the tomb of the founder, and from his being a sherriff, is covered with a green silk pall. 1959 Economist 3 July 11/2 Even the assorted amirs, sultans and sharifs of south Arabia. 1974 C. Majul in Gowing & McAmis Muslim Filipinos i. 4 The sultans of Sulu have all claimed descent from this sharif. |
2. Hence used (often with capital initial) as the title of certain Arab princes. a. The sovereign of Morocco; also, the ruler of any of the districts of Morocco.
| 1600 Pory tr. Leo's Africa To Rdr. 4 The Xarifo [marg. Or Xerifo, or Serifo] otherwise called the Miramonin, or the king of Maroco Sus and Fez. Ibid. ii. 81, I my selfe was present at this faire in the companie of my Lord the Seriffo for the space of fifteene daies. a 1618 Raleigh War F iiij, The Seriph in Barbarie. 1632 Lithgow Trav. viii. 367 Their chiefe Seriff, or Vicegerent, being sent from Morocco. c 1685 Dk. of Buckingham Conf. Wks. 1705 II. 36 Sultans of Babylon, Caliphs of ægypt,..and Xeriffs of Morocco. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., Cheref, a title assumed by the emperors of Morocco. 1892 Blackw. Mag. Sept. 420/1 The shorfa, or shereefs, had been content to live a pastoral life amongst their flocks and herds... Probably simplicity was the principal feature of the early Shorfa of Wazan. |
b. The ruler of various other places; esp. the chief magistrate, or local governor of Mecca.
| 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 5 And with him [the Sultan] sent the Seriph, a man of great place among the Mahumetans, his Embassador vnto the Emperour. 1622 H. Crosby Jrnl. 10 Mar. in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1908) II. 2 [At Mohilla] the shreeve that was with him had some of the spice and the chinna trenchers. The King and the shreeve and the Kings two sonns stayed. 1625 Purchas Pilgrims I. iii. xi. 257 The Sheriffe of Mecca. Ibid. iv. xvi. 539 Euery night at Sun-set they stand or kneele all towards the Sunne and pray, the Xeriff [of Socatra] throwing water on their heads. 1631 R. H. Arraignm. Whole Creature xvii. 300 Others, keeping up their Wives: jayled, and confined to their Prison, as the Zeriffes of Pesia, that none see them. 1694 Lond. Gaz. No. 2997/2 The Ceriffe, or King of Mecca,..had revolted against the Ottoman Government. 1704 J. Pitts Relig. & Mann. Mohammetans vii. 91 The Sultan Shirreef of Mecca. 1734 G. Sale Koran Prelim. Disc. §1. 4 The prince or Sharif has a garden well planted at his castle of Marbaa. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. v. i. ii. ¶7 The authority of an Arabian scherif is very great; that of a Tartar khan altogether despotical. 1805 Amer. St. Papers (1832) II. 723 This morning came in two deserters from the enemy's camp, both Levant Turks,..a choux and a cheriff, corresponding with the rank of aid-de-camp and ensign [Tripoli]. 1848 Curzon Monast. Levant i. iii. (1897) 22 On entering the tent we found the Cadi; the son of the sheriff of Mecca. 1900 Q. Rev. Oct. 348 With the overshadowing Turkish Sultans a dynasty of Shareefs could not well be on amicable terms. |
Hence Sheˈreefate, the office of Shereef; sheˈreefial a. = shereefian a.
| 1917 R. Storrs Orientations (1937) x. 244 He [sc. the Sultan of Muscat] professes entire satisfaction..with the Sharifial movement. 1920 19th. Cent. Aug. 233 It was to the British Government..that the Sherifial family of Mecca addressed their communications during the war. 1924 Glasgow Herald 8 Mar. 9 He began his official career by assisting successive Sherifs, and in 1908..was appointed to the Sherifate by the Porte. |