often capitalized
1
: the prayer leader of a mosque
2
: a Muslim leader of the line of Ali held by Shiites to be the divinely appointed, sinless, infallible successors of Muhammad
3
: any of various rulers that claim descent from Muhammad and exercise spiritual and temporal leadership over a Muslim region

Examples of imam in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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After threatening them with lengthy prison sentences, torture and even death, Russian and Russian-installed authorities have forced numerous other priests, pastors and imams into exile. Ivana Kottasová, CNN, 16 Dec. 2024 The group already includes a rabbi, an imam, a pastor and a Hindu specialist. Max Goldbart, Deadline, 19 Nov. 2024 By the evening, among the crowd of about 200 people were parents or siblings waiting for their family members to be released on bond, alumni and an imam of a local mosque. Lily Kepner, Austin American-Statesman, 25 Apr. 2024 Trump won endorsements from Muslim imams and the Muslim mayor of Hamtramck, another town near Detroit with a large Arab American population, as well as the large Bangladeshi community, and courted Iraqi Americans, Albanian Americans and others. Andrea Shalal and Maya Gebeily, USA TODAY, 1 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for imam 

Word History

Etymology

Arabic imām

First Known Use

1613, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of imam was in 1613

Dictionary Entries Near imam

Cite this Entry

“Imam.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/imam. Accessed 7 Jan. 2025.

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