Shah
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A king of Persia or Iran.
"We had a cordial welcome in Tehran from the shah and Empress Farah, a delightful banquet, and adequate time to discuss the Middle East and nuclear power affairs with the shah."
- 2 A Ukrainian monetary unit. historical
- 3 title for the former hereditary monarch of Iran wordnet
- 4 A supreme ruler in some West Asian, Central Asian or South Asian nations.
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"He would like to know whether you play shah."
Etymology
From Persian شاه (šâh), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (šāh), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /xšāyaθiya/). Doublet of check. More at chess.
From Ukrainian шаг (šah).
Two main origins: * Borrowed from Persian شاه (“shah, king”), a Persian surname which is widespread in Iran and in the subcontinent. * Borrowed from Gujarati સાહ (sāh, “merchant”), an occupational surname from Sanskrit साधु (sādhu, “merchant; jeweller; money-lender”).
Related phrases
More for "shah"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.