ولی

See also: ولي and ولى

Old Anatolian Turkish

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Arabic وَلِيّ (waliyy).

Noun

ولی • (velī) (definite accusative ولیی (velīyi) or ولی‌ی (velīyi), plural ولیلر (velīler) or (literary) اولیا (evliyā))

  1. (religion, Islam) one who displays a lot of religious virtues, and therefore is thought to have reached a supreme religious degree and/or God's love, and is recognized as holy; saint, wali.
    Synonyms: ارن (ẹren), اولیا (evliyā), ار (er)
  2. relative
    Antonyms: ایل (ẹl), یاد (yād)
  3. friend
    Synonyms: دوست (dōst), یار (yār), ایل (ẹl), اوكور (ögür)
Descendants
  • Azerbaijani: vəli, Vəli
  • Ottoman Turkish: ولی (veli)

Further reading

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Classical Persian ولی (walē), from Arabic وَلٰكِن (walākin). Doublet of ولكن (velākin) and ولیكن (velīkin).

Conjunction

ولی • (velī)

  1. but, however
    Synonym: اما (ammā)
Descendants

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish ولی (velī), from Arabic وَلِيّ (waliyy).

Noun

ولی • (veli) (definite accusative ولیی (veliyi), plural اولیا (evliya) or ولیلر (veliler))

  1. parent; close relative
  2. close friend; trusted companion
  3. guardian (person with quasi-parental authority)
  4. saint

Descendants

Further reading

  • Avery, Robert et al., editors (2013), “veli”, in The Redhouse Dictionary Turkish/Ottoman English, 21st edition, Istanbul: Sev Yayıncılık, →ISBN
  • Kélékian, Diran (1911) “ولی”, in Dictionnaire turc-français[1] (in French), Constantinople: Mihran, page 1316a
  • Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “veli”, in Nişanyan Sözlük

Persian

Etymology 1

From earlier ولیکن (walēkin), from Arabic وَلٰكِن (walākin) or a conjugation of و (wa) and لیکن (lēkin) from Arabic لٰكِن (lākin).

Pronunciation

 

Readings
Classical reading? wálē
Dari reading? walē
Iranian reading? vali
Tajik reading? vale

Conjunction

Dari اما, مگر
Iranian Persian ولی / اما
Tajik аммо

ولی • (walē / vali)

  1. but
Descendants

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Arabic وَلِيّ (waliyy), from the root و ل ي (w l y).

Pronunciation

 

Readings
Classical reading? walī
Dari reading? walī
Iranian reading? vali
Tajik reading? vali

Noun

ولی • (walī / vali) (plural اولیاء (awliyā' / owliyâ'))

  1. guardian, parent
  2. master, lord
  3. (Sufism) saint
  4. (historical) governor
Derived terms
  • ولی فقیه (vali-ye faqih)

Further reading

  • Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “ولی”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian ولی (walī), from Arabic وَلِيّ (waliyy).

Pronunciation

Noun

ولی • (valīm (formal plural اولیا (olyā), Hindi spelling वली)

  1. (Islam) favorite with God
  2. (Islam) prophet, saint
  3. master, lord, defender, guardian, friend