ulema
/ˈʊləmə/
ulema is the plural of alim.
Meaning of alim
Noun
alim (plural ulama or ulema or alims)
- An educated scholar of Islamic law; a member of the ulema class
- Akram is a working alim, lecturing in mosques and universities and dispensing fatwas on issues like inheritance and divorce.2007 February 25, Carla Power, “A Secret History”, in New York Times
Forms of ulema
| alternative form | ulama |
|---|---|
| alternative form | ‘ulama’ |
| alternative form (dated) | olema |
Origin of ulema
Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish علما (ulemâ), from Arabic عُلَمَاء (ʕulamāʔ, plural of عَالِم (ʕālim, “learned one”)). Doublet of ulama and olema.
Questions about ulema
- What is ulema the plural of?
- Ulema is the plural of alim.
- How do you pronounce ulema?
- Ulema is pronounced /ˈʊləmə/.
Words near ulema in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ulema (page history and authors); alim (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “ulema.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ulema. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.