fatwa

/ˈfætwɑː/

//ˈfætwɑː// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"fatwa" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“fatwa” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #41,624. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#41,624
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
17
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A formal legal decree, opinion, or ruling issued by a mufti or other Islamic judicial authority.

Corpus desk

Index EN-fatwa · fatwa · English

fatwa · rank #41,624 · 7 variants · 17 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #41,624
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 17 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH Farnborough

Nearest frequency peer: Farnborough (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “fatwa”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “fatwa” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

fatwa vs FTA
0% similar
fatwa vs FTW
0% similar
fatwa vs fawn
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for fatwa
PropertyValue
Headwordfatwa
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfætwɑː/
Letters5
Frequency rank#41,624
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs17
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “fatwa”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).fatwalands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Farnborough” (#41,623), “Fawkes” (#41,625), “fairing” (#41,622). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “fatwa” is #41,624. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around fatwa (IPA /ˈfætwɑː/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #41,624 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for fatwa, with forms such as "aftwa", "fataw", and "fattwa". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "FTA", "FTW", "fawn", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is borrowed from Arabic فَتْوَى (fatwā, “formal legal opinion”), the verbal noun of أَفْتَى (ʔaftā, “to deliver a formal opinion”) (whence مُفْتٍ (muftin, “mufti”), the active participle of the same verb: see mufti). The forms fetwa, fetwah are der… The correct English form is fatwa, spelled F-A-T-W-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A formal legal decree, opinion, or ruling issued by a mufti or other Islamic judicial authority.
  2. 2
    A decree issued by a mufti or other Islamic judicial authority that a person should be put to death, usually as punishment for committing apostasy or blasphemy.
  3. 3
    A formal decree or ruling, or statement, issued by an authority of a religion other than Islam.
  4. 4
    An emphatic decree or opinion, especially one which condemns or criticizes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how fatwa appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The website contains fatwas on points of Islamic law that arise in court cases.
  2. In 2015, one person was killed in Copenhagen at a meeting meant to mark the 25th anniversary of an Iranian fatwa against British writer Salman Rushdie, which Vilks attended.

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from Arabic فَتْوَى (fatwā, “formal legal opinion”), the verbal noun of أَفْتَى (ʔaftā, “to deliver a formal opinion”) (whence مُفْتٍ (muftin, “mufti”), the active participle of the same verb: see mufti). The forms fetwa, fetwah are derived from Italian fetfà (obsolete), and directly from its etymon Ottoman Turkish فتوی (fetva) (modern Turkish fetva), from Arabic فَتْوَى (fatwā): see above. Modern uses of noun noun sense 1.2 (“decree that a person should be put to death”) and the corresponding verb sense are probably influenced by the issuance of a fatwa on 14 February 1989 by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1900 or 1902 – 1989), the Supreme Leader of Iran, calling for the British-American author Salman Rushdie (born 1947) and his publishers to be put to death for alleged blasphemy in his novel The Satanic Verses (1988). The plural form fatawa is borrowed from Arabic فَتَاوَى (fatāwā). The verb is derived from the noun.

This word in other languages

fatua(Español)fatwa(Français)Fatwa(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aftwa
  • fataw
  • fattwa
  • fatwwa
  • fawta
  • ffatwa
  • ftawa

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fatwa - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

aftwa2fataw2fattwa1fatwwa1fawta2ffatwa1ftawa2
Edit distance from "fatwa"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fatwa"?
"fatwa" is spelled F-A-T-W-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfætwɑː/.
What does "fatwa" mean?
As a noun, "fatwa" means: A formal legal decree, opinion, or ruling issued by a mufti or other Islamic judicial authority.
What words are commonly confused with "fatwa"?
"fatwa" is commonly confused with "FTA", "FTW", "fawn". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fatwa"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fatwa" is /ˈfætwɑː/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "fatwa"?
The noun is borrowed from Arabic فَتْوَى (fatwā, “formal legal opinion”), the verbal noun of أَفْتَى (ʔaftā, “to deliver a formal opinion”) (whence مُفْتٍ (muftin, “mufti”), the active participle of the same verb: see mufti). The forms fetwa, fetw... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "fatwa", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

FAFSA#41,621durst#41,603glyph#41,646Gordy#41,650

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Gollum7 variantsgumbo7 variantsHerrmann7 variantscaked7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list