Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
1
9.0
- proper noun
- Revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini considered the Soviet Union to be "godless" and purged leftists from the revolutionary coalition.
- Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader
- Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
Examples
-
In the words of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the revolution's leader and the founding father of Iran's Islamic Republic:
Academic text (2011) -
Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini agreed with him on this point, if on nothing else, noting on November 7, 1979.
Academic text (2007) -
However, following the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini built a culture of martyrdom and suicide attacks.
Academic text (2015) -
But many historians believe that one of the keys to the revolution was the ability of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to spread his message using a simple device: the cassette tape.
Academic text (2010) -
In 1983, four years after the Iranian revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini instituted a ban on women showing their hair and the shape of their bodies.
Academic text (2010) -
Conceding will be difficult for Iran, but the Islamic Republic has made such difficult compromises in the past with its revolutionary principles, such as when, in 1988, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini agreed to end the Iran-Iraq war.
Academic text (2007) -
Far from emulating Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, they channeled Thomas Paine, calling for civil liberties, religious equality, and an end to Mubarak's dictatorship.
Academic text (2011) -
Even the Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini—a Persian, not an Arab—appealed to Islam to mobilize Arabs behind his banner.
Academic text (2011) -
The influential Iranian religious leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, played a pivotal role in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
-
Many remember Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as the figure who established the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Synonyms
21
7.8
Iranian religious and political leader who led the 1979 revolution and became Iran's Supreme Leader
10
8.0
An Iranian religious leader who led the 1979 revolution and became Supreme Leader of Iran
1
8.8
Iranian religious and political leader who led the 1979 revolution and became Iran's supreme leader
1
7.9
An Iranian religious and political leader who founded the Islamic Republic after the 1979 revolution
Surface Forms
Morphology
ayatollah + Ruhollah + Khomeini
The compound is built from a title ('ayatollah' = religious leader) plus a personal name, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will understand it refers to a religious leader named Ruhollah Khomeini. However, the fuller encyclopedic meaning (that he led the 1979 revolution and became Supreme Leader) is historical/political information not inferable from the words alone, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini combines a religious title and a personal name that links him to a place: Ayatollah is a high Muslim religious title, Ruhollah means 'spirit of God', and Khomeini shows he came from the town of Khomein. That's why his name marks him as a leading religious figure who led Iran's 1979 revolution and became the country's top leader.