noun
effendi
eh-FEHN-dee
noun
1
A title of respect for an educated or distinguished man, historically used in Turkey and other parts of the former Ottoman Empire.
"The villagers addressed the visiting scholar as "effendi.""
How to Use Effendi
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA polite, old-fashioned title meaning roughly "sir" or "master," used across the historical Ottoman world.
Easily confused with
Word Forms
effendis plural, effendi plural
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Etymology
Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish efendi, itself from Greek authéntēs, "lord" or "master" — making it a distant relative of the English word "authentic."