What does "vilayet" mean?

A province, particularly (historical) the first-level administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire.

What is a synonym for "vilayet"?

Common synonyms include: eyalet, eyalet.

//ˌvɪləˈjɛt// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A province, particularly (historical) the first-level administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire.

From Ottoman Turkish ولایت (vilayet, “province”), from Arabic وِلَايَة (wilāya, “province, administration”). Doublet of wilayah and Blighty.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.