ولی

See also: ولي and ولى

Old Anatolian Turkish

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Arabic وَلِيّ (waliyy).

Noun

ولی • (velī) (definite accusative ولیی (velīyi) or ولی‌ی (velīyi), plural ولیلر (velīler) or (literary) اولیا (evliyā))

1. (religion, Islam) one who displays a lot of religious virtues, and therefore is thought to have reached a supreme religious degree and/or God's love, and is recognized as holy; saint, wali.

   Synonyms: ارن (ẹren), اولیا (evliyā), ار (er)

2. relative

   Antonyms: ایل (ẹl), یاد (yād)

3. friend

   Synonyms: دوست (dōst), یار (yār), ایل (ẹl), اوكور (ögür)

Descendants

• Azerbaijani: vəli, Vəli
• Ottoman Turkish: ولی (veli)
  • Turkish: veli, Veli

Further reading

• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “veli”, in Nişanyan Sözlük

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Classical Persian ولی (walē), from Arabic وَلٰكِن (walākin). Doublet of ولكن (velākin) and ولیكن (velīkin).

Conjunction

ولی • (velī)

1. but, however

   Synonym: اما (ammā)

Descendants

• Azerbaijani: vəli

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish ولی (velī), from Arabic وَلِيّ (waliyy).

Noun

ولی • (veli) (definite accusative ولیی (veliyi), plural اولیا (evliya) or ولیلر (veliler))

1. parent; close relative
2. close friend; trusted companion
3. guardian (person with quasi-parental authority)
4. saint

Descendants

• Turkish: veli, Veli

Further reading

• Avery, Robert et al., editors (2013), “veli”, in The Redhouse Dictionary Turkish/Ottoman English, 21st edition, Istanbul: Sev Yayıncılık, →ISBN
• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “ولی”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[1], Constantinople: Mihran, page 1316a
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “veli”, in Nişanyan Sözlük

Persian

Etymology 1

From earlier ولیکن (walēkin), from Arabic وَلٰكِن (walākin) or a conjugation of و (wa) and لیکن (lēkin) from Arabic لٰكِن (lākin).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ˈwa.leː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [wǽ.leː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [wǽ.leː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [wǽ.leː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [wǽ.leː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [vǽ.liː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [vǽ.le]

Readings
Classical reading?	walē
Dari reading?	walē
Iranian reading?	vali
Tajik reading?	vale

Conjunction

Dari	اما, مگر
Iranian Persian	ولی / اما
Tajik	аммо

ولی • (walē / vali)

1. but

Descendants

• → Gurani: وەلێ (walē)
• → Old Anatolian Turkish: ولی (velī)
  • Azerbaijani: vəli
• → Southern Kurdish: وەلێ (welê)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Arabic وَلِيّ (waliyy), from the root و ل ي (w l y).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [wa.ˈliː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [wä.líː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [wä.líː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [wä.líː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [wä.lí]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [væ.líː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [vä.lí]

Readings
Classical reading?	walī
Dari reading?	walī
Iranian reading?	vali
Tajik reading?	vali

Noun

ولی • (walī / vali) (plural اولیاء (awliyā' / owliyâ'))

1. guardian, parent
2. master, lord
3. (Sufism) saint
   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume II, verse 2163:

     هر که خواهد همنشینی خدا
     تا نشیند در حضور اولیا

     har ki xwāhad hamnišīnī-i xudā
     tā nišinad dar hozūr-i awliyā

     Whoever wishes to sit with God,
     let him sit in the presence of the saints.

4. (historical) governor

Derived terms

• ولی فقیه (vali-ye faqih)

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “ولی”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian ولی (walī), from Arabic وَلِيّ (waliyy).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ʋə.liː/
• Rhymes: -iː

Noun

ولی • (valī) m (formal plural اولیا (olyā), Hindi spelling वली)

1. (Islam) favorite with God
2. (Islam) prophet, saint
3. master, lord, defender, guardian, friend