jihad
/d͡ʒɪˈhæd/noun, verb
jihad is spelled J-I-H-A-D: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, jihad means “A holy war undertaken by Muslims” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of jihad is jihads.
How many letters and syllables are in jihad?
| Letters | 5: J-I-H-A-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.1 times per million words; the 15,146th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is jihad?
Jihad appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce jihad?
- /d͡ʒɪˈhæd/
- /d͡ʒɪˈhɑːd/
- /d͡ʒəˈhɑːd/
Jihad has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-jihad.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of jihad
- jihads plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- jehad
- jihading participle, present
- jihaded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does jihad mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A holy war undertaken by Muslims.
- 2
A personal spiritual struggle for self-improvement or against evil.
- 3
An aggressive campaign for an idea.
verb
- 1
To participate in a jihad.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Jihad in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense holy war undertaken by Muslims:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does jihad come from?
Borrowed from Arabic جِهَاد (jihād, “struggle; effort”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).