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mu·ja·hid

(m-jähĭd′)

n. pl. mu·ja·hi·deen or mu·ja·hi·din (m-jä′hĕ-dēn)

1. One engaged in a jihad, especially as a guerrilla warrior.

2. One of the Muslim guerrilla warriors that resisted the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s with the support of the United States and Pakistan.

[Ultimately (partly via Persian) from Arabic mujāhid, one who fights in a jihad, active participle of jāhada, to fight; see ghd in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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