| 释义 |
‖ imam, imaum|ɪˈmɑːm|
Forms: 7 eemawm, imman, 8 emaum, 9 imawm, imám, 7– imam, 8– imaum; also 7– iman.
[a. Arab. imām leader, president, etc., f. amma to go before, precede. The form iman is that used in F. and Sp.]
1. The officiating priest of a Muslim mosque.
1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 301 Then ariseth another Priest of another order called Imam, and readeth a Psalme aloude. 1625–6― Pilgrims ii. 1609 Immediately after euery one is cleansed and come into the Moschea, the Eemawm which is the Parish Priest beginnes to pray. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 102 The director of the Prayers, who says the Prayers, and makes the rest say them;..in Turkey he is called the Imam. 1717Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Abbé Conti 17 May, The outside of the mosque is adorned with four towers, vastly high, gilt on the top, from whence the imaums call the people to prayers. 1775R. Chandler Trav. Greece (1825) II. 59 The Turks..had erected a pulpit..for their iman or reader. 1815Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) II. 278 The Imaums of towns have fees on marriages, burials, and some other ceremonies, and are maintained by them and the gifts of their congregation. 1884F. Boyle Borderland 257 The chief imam condemned such an interpretation of the law.
2. A title given to various Muslim leaders and chiefs.
Applied to a. the Caliph, as sovereign of the community, and (now or formerly) to other independent princes, e.g. the chief of Oman; b. the twelve chiefs of Islam recognized by the Ithnashari Shiites, of whom Ali, Hasan, and Husain were the earliest; c. the founders of the four orthodox sects of Muslims; d. the author of the leading treatise on any subject.
1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 373 On these twelve Saints they bestow the quality of Imam, or Prelate. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 220 The Prince of this Country [Muscat] is called Imaum, who is Guardian of Mahomet's Tomb, and on whom is devolved the Right of Caliphship. 1728Morgan Algiers I. vi. 171 The Khalifa of Bagdad..the legitimate Successor of Mahomet, and Sovereign Imaum or Pontiff of all the Mussulmans. 1753Hanway Trav. (1762) II. x. iv. 241 The Mascats are a tribe of Arabians..they are subject to an Iman, who has an absolute authority over them. 1804W. Tennant Ind. Recreat. (ed. 2) I. 220 Hossein.—This holy Imawm is believed not only to have been a saint, but a martyr. 1883C. J. Wills Mod. Persia 108 Where are buried the imams, or saints, of the Sheahs, Hussein and Hassan, one of the greatest shrines of Persian pilgrims. 1899Daily Chron. 7 Mar. 7/3 By the treaty of 1862 France and Great Britain entered into a mutual engagement to respect the independence of the Imam of Muscat.
Hence iˈmamate [cf. F. imamat], iˈmamship, the dignity of imam.
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Imam, The Mahometans do not agree among themselves about this imamate, or dignity of the imam. 1860J. Gardner Faiths World II. 120/2 A number of the Schiites..denied the right of Moussa to the Imámate. 1895Pall Mall G. 2 Dec. 2/2 The man who has given the trouble is the claimant to the Imamship of Sanaa—the titular ruler of the country before the Turks occupied it in 1872. |
