Etymograph

English

caliph

Caliph comes from Medieval Latin calipha.

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500calipha1
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400caliphe1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500calife1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1837caliph1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English caliph
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, The Coronation: “It carries us to the East, and the stately…”.

Lineage

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500caliphaWiktionary, English caliph
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400calipheWiktionary, English caliph
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500califeWiktionary, English caliph
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1837caliphWiktionary, English caliph. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, The Coronation: “It carries us to the East, and the stately…”

A compound of خَلِيفَة ‘caliph’ + خَلِيف ‘successor’

Proto-Semitic *ḫalap- ‘to go beyond, to transgress’

Arabic خَلَفَ ‘to be the successor, to substitute for’

Arabic خَلِيفَة ‘caliph’

Proto-Semitic *ḫalap- ‘to go beyond, to transgress’

Arabic خَلَفَ ‘to be the successor’

Arabic خَلِيف ‘successor’

Every English word from Medieval Latin calipha

Today it means

noun The holder of a monarchical title based on a claim to be a successor of Muhammad.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “caliph”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Medieval Latin calipha / caliph

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