Sidi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sidi is a masculine title of respect in Western Arabic language and Egyptian Arabic (sayyid in other dialects) equivalent to modern popular usage of the English Mr.. It is also used in other Arabic dialects, such as Eastern Arabic, as well as by Muslims of the Indian subcontinent in the Urdu language - however, in these latter two cases, "Sidi" does not have so much currency as titles like sayed, janab or saheb.

Occasionally a respected member of a muslim society will be given the title Sidi by default in recognition of upright standing and wisdom. This especially applies to marabouts, hence the term appears in places and mosques named after one.

In the Maghrebi kingdom of Morocco:

  • Sidi ('Lord'): the title used as a substitute for Mulay by those male members of the ruling Alawi dynasty sharing the first name of the Muslim Prophet, Muhammad
  • Smiyet Sidi: a style usually reserved for the Sovereign or the Heir Apparent, loosely, but imperfectly, translated as 'His Lordship' or 'Monseigneur'

In neighbouring Tunisian Arabic, it has evolved into two separate variants: "Si" means Mister or Sir, while "Sidi" means "Master" or "Saint", depending on the context. For example older conservative Tunisian women call their husbands "Sidi", not by first name; older conservative Tunisians (both men and women) call their older brothers "Sidi", especially when there is a large age difference between them. There are two female equivalents of "Sidi": "Lella", when used in a social context, and "Sayyeda" when speaking about female saints, for example "(Es)-Sayyeda El-Manoubiyya".

In the Hijaz region of Saudi Arabia, the word sidi is used as an honorific when addressing an older brother by many of the more traditional families.

Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.