dervish
(ˈdɜːvɪʃ)
Forms: 6–9 dervis, 7–9 dervise, (7 dervice, dervys, dervisse, -iche, dervize, derwis, darvish, derveesh), 7– dervish, (8 derwish, 9 dirvesh, darwesh, durwaysh, -weesh).
[a. Pers. darvēsh, darvīsh poor, a religious mendicant, a friar, in Arab. darwēsh, darwīsh, Turkish dervīsh, the latter being the immediate source of the European forms: cf. It. dervis, F. dervis, derviche (in 1559 derviss), Sp. derviche, Ger. derwisch. Some of the variant spellings represent Arabic and Persian forms of the word. (The native Arabic equivalent is faqīr poor, fakir.)]
A Muslim friar, who has taken vows of poverty and austere life. Of these there are various orders, some of whom are known from their fantastic practices as dancing dervish or whirling dervish, and as howling dervishes.
| 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. xvii. 102 The thirde sect of the religious Turkes called Dervis. Ibid. 102 b, These devoute Dervis live of almes. 1625 Purchas Pilgrims II. ix. 1611 An order of Derueeshes, that turne round with Musike in their Diuine Seruice. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vii. 316 Priests called Darvishes. 1635 E. Pagitt Christianogr. i. iii. (1636) 200 A Dervice, or religious man of theirs. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 307 The Dervisse an order of begging Friar. 1728 Morgan Algiers I. vi. 186 A wandering Derwish, a devout Moor. 1744 Trav. C. Thompson III. 267 They are not the dancing Dervises, of which Sort there are none in Egypt. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India I. iii. iii. 510 A Dirvesh, or professor of piety. 1821 Byron Juan iii. xxix, Like dervises, who turn as on a pivot. 1832 G. A. Herklots tr. Customs Moosulmans 206 The first class of Durwayshes is denominated Salik. 1847 Emerson Poems, Saadi Wks. (Bohn) I. 475 Barefooted Dervish is not poor, If fate unlock his bosom's door. 1852 E. B. Eastwick tr. Bāgh o Bahār 10 Adventures of the Four Darweshes. 1869 Pall Mall G. 7 Jan. 10 Whirling about all round you like dancing dervishes. 1877 A. B. Edwards Up Nile ii. 37 And now, their guttural chorus audible long before they arrived in sight, came the howling dervishes. |
| attrib. 1704 J. Pitts Acc. Mahometans vii. (1738) 125 Give themselves up to a Dervise sort of Life. 1882–3 Schaff Encycl. Relig. Knowl. III. 1810 This pantheistic dervish system. |
Hence
ˈdervishhood, the estate or condition of a dervish.
ˈdervishism, the principles and practice of the dervishes; the dervish system.
ˈdervish-like a.| 1850 A. Jameson Leg. Monast. Ord. Introd. (1863) 22 Asceticism..strangely uncouth, and dervish-like. 1865 Sat. Rev. 4 Feb. 144/2 Dr. Vambery wandered, because he has the genuine wild spirit of Dervishism strong within him. 1884 Browning Ferishtah 9 Half-way on Dervishhood, not wholly there. |