Pronunciation: ' ä-lä-w ē
Variant: also Al · a · wite \ ˌ a-l ə - ' w ē t \
Function: noun
Etymology: Arabic 'alaw ī , from the caliph 'Al ī ibn Ab ī Ṭ ā lib, central figure in Shia Islam
Date: 1930
: a member of a religious sect living mainly in Syria that originated in Shiite Islam but separated from other Shiite Islam groups in the ninth and tenth centuries