Introduction to Glossary
Listings in the glossary are selected terms and names appearing frequently in the text on this website. The meanings given often refer to the technical and religious senses of the words as adopted especially by the Ismailis. The abbreviated forms ‘pl.’ and ‘lit.’ mean ‘plural’ and ‘literally’, respectively.
Words beginning with the Arabic or Persian letter ayn, represented by the ‘, or the hamza represented by the ’ have been retained in the spellings of words where they have been used in the original articles. They have been ignored however when being arranged in alphabetical order, therefore, the term ‘Abbasid, will be found under the letter ‘A’.
Non-English words that have been transliterated into English follow the spellings of the individual authors within each article. Standardised spelling has been used in the rest of the site, adhering to British spellings for English-language words. Alternative spellings for words have been noted.