Word.ws English Dictionary

zakat

Syllables: za·kat/zəˈkɑːt/US/zəˈkɑt/

zakat noun: almsgiving, usually in the form of an annual tax on certain types of property which is then used for charitable purposes; the third of the five pillars of Islam.

zakat: almsgiving, usually in the form of an annual tax on certain types of property which is then used...
Image: Maqivi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

zakat (usually uncountable, plural zakats)

  1. (usually) Almsgiving, usually in the form of an annual tax on certain types of property which is then used for charitable purposes; the third of the five pillars of Islam.
    • Zakât is an ordinance of God, incumbent upon every perſon vvho is free, ſane, adult, and a Muſſulman, provided he be poſſeſſed, in full propriety, of ſuch eſtate or effects as are termed in the language of the lavv a Niſâb, and that he has been in poſſeſſion of the ſame for the ſpace of one...1791, [Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani], chapter I, in Charles Hamilton, transl., The Hedàya, or Guide; a Commentary on the Mussulman Laws: […], volume I, London: […] T[homas] Bensley, →OCLC, book I (Of...
    • The Mahometan law insists on the legal obligation of society to support their indigent fellow-citizens, the Hedaya or Mahometan Guide begins, "take zakat," said Mahomet, "from the rich Mussulmans, and bestow it upon the poor Mussulmans: zakat or charity," says the code, "signifies alms imposed by...1831, James Butler Bryan, chapter XII, in A Practical View of Ireland, from the Period of the Union; with Plans for the Permanent Relief of Her Poor, and the Improvement of Her Municipal...

zakat meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

zakat in Hindi

almsgiving in the form of an annual tax on certain types of property, which is used for charitable purposes
ज़कात zakāt

zakat in Tamil

almsgiving in the form of an annual tax on certain types of property, which is used for charitable purposes
சகாத் cakāt

zakat in Urdu

almsgiving in the form of an annual tax on certain types of property, which is used for charitable purposes
زکات

zakat in Bengali

almsgiving in the form of an annual tax on certain types of property, which is used for charitable purposes
যাকাত jakat
More languagesFewer languages
zakat in Telugu
జకాత్ jakāt
zakat in Malayalam
സകാത്ത് sakāttŭ
zakat in Kannada
ಝಕಾತ್ jhakāt
zakat in Punjabi
ਜ਼ਕਾਤ zakāt
zakat in Gujarati
ઝકાત jhakāt
zakat in Assamese
জাকাত zakat
zakat in Pashto
زکات
zakat in Arabic
زَكَاة zakāh
zakat in Malay
zakat
zakat in Indonesian
zakat
zakat in Persian
زکات zakât
zakat in Thai
ซะกาต sá-gàat
zakat in Vietnamese
zakat
Dhivehi
ޒަކާތް zakāt̊
Kashmiri
زَکات zakāt

Examples of zakat in a sentence

  • The Alcoran and all the subsequent teachings of the faithful enjoined a constant and liberal charity. […] The theory of the zakat, or tax, is that it is a voluntary gift.1886, William A[ddison] Phillips, “The Mahometan System, and the Governments and Forms of Society Founded on It”, in Labor, Land and Law: A...
  • By tradition, zakat proceeds serve partly to deliver poor relief and partly to finance "praiseworthy activities," defined to include religious education and pilgrimage.2006, Timur Kuran, “Islam and Economics: Policy Prescriptions for a Free Society”, in Sohrab Behdad, Farhad Nomani, editors, Islam and the...
  • In practice, the zakats seem to have varied a great deal with the context, the society, and local norms.2020 March, Thomas Piketty, “Ternary Societies and Colonialism: Eurasian Trajectories”, in Arthur Goldhammer, transl., Capital and...

Forms of zakat

pluralzakats
alternative formzakaah
alternative formzakah
alternative formzikat
alternative formZikat

Origin of zakat

Borrowed from: * Persian زکات (zakât); * Turkish zekât, from Ottoman Turkish زكات (zekat); or * Urdu زَکَات (zakāt); all from Arabic زَكَاة (zakāh, “almsgiving, zakat; purification”), from زَكَوٰة (zakāh) (archaic), from Aramaic זכותא/ܙܟܘܬܐ (zākūṯā, “goodness, probity, uprightness; merit; victory”), from זכי (zəḵē, “to gain; to overcome, triumph over”).

Words that rhyme with zakat

6 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about zakat

What does zakat mean?
Zakat means almsgiving, usually in the form of an annual tax on certain types of property which is then used for charitable purposes; the third of the five pillars of Islam.
What is zakat in Hindi?
Zakat in Hindi is ज़कात (zakāt). See Zakat meaning in Hindi.
How do you use zakat in a sentence?
The Alcoran and all the subsequent teachings of the faithful enjoined a constant and liberal charity. […] The theory of the zakat, or tax, is that it is a voluntary gift.
What part of speech is zakat?
Zakat is a noun.
How do you pronounce zakat?
Zakat is pronounced /zəˈkɑːt/ (UK).
What is the plural of zakat?
The plural of zakat is zakats.

Words near zakat in the dictionary

  1. Zakarpats'ka
  2. Zakarpattia
  3. Zakarpattya
  4. Zakarpatye
  5. Zakaryan
  6. zakat
  7. Zakatala
  8. zakatchi
  9. zakatchis
  10. zakats
  11. Zakhar

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: zakat (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-zakat.wav.

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