English Explanatory Dictionary

mukhtar

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A minor official—usually overseeing a village or town—in many Arab countries and (historical) in the Ottoman Empire and its successor states, including Turkey, Northern Cyprus, and formerly Albania.
  2. Alternative spelling of muhtar: an elected official overseeing a village or neighborhood in modern Turkey.
  3. A person acting as an agent, particularly a lawyer.
name
  1. A surname from Arabic.

Pronunciation

/ˈmʊktɑː/ [ˈmʊx-] LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mukhtar.wav /ˈmʊktɑɹ/

Word forms

mukhtar mukhtars muhtar mooktar mookhtar muktar muqtar mooktear muktear

Etymology

From North Levantine Arabic مختار (“village headman”), from substantive application of Arabic مُخْتَار (muḵtār, “chosen”), the passive participle of اِخْتَارَ (iḵtāra, “to elect, to choose”). Specific application with influence from various local languages including Ottoman Turkish مختار (muhtar, “village headman”) and Bengali মুখতার (mukhtar), Marathi मुख्तार (mukhtār), and Urdu مختار (muktār, “agent; lawyer”). Within Indian English, the application of mukhtar is influenced by a folk etymology derivation from Sanskrit मुक्ति (mukti, “liberation, becoming or setting free”). Doublet of muhtar.

Related words

Mukhtar

Translations

Albanian: myftar Albanian: miftar Albanian: muhtar Arabic: مختار Bengali: মুখতার Bengali: মোক্তার Bulgarian: мухта́р French: moukhtar German: Muchtar Greek: μουχτάρης Macedonian: муктар Russian: мухта́р Uzbek: muxtor
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