Arabic exportsMyths & disputes

sharif

Arabic šarīf means 'noble, exalted' and became the title of descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, above all the Sharifs of Mecca and Morocco. English has had it since the 1590s, spelled sherif, shereef and xerif.

Weakest linkCertain

The story you may have heard

English 'sheriff' is sometimes said to come from sharif. It does not: sheriff is Old English scīrgerēfa 'shire-reeve', the king's officer of a county, found centuries before any contact with the Arabic word.

The road to English

From Arabic to Spanish

From Arabic to Persian, Urdu

From Arabic to Swahili

700 CEArabic

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

Export “sharif”

Embed “sharif”

Save “sharif”