Skip to content

calife

caliph

noun kah-LIF Rare

Usage Note

Calife is the French term for the Islamic head of state in the historical caliphate. The French idiom vouloir être calife à la place du calife (to want to be the caliph in the caliph's place) means to want someone else's position of power; it comes from the Iznogoud comic series by Goscinny and Tabary.

Examples

"Le calife régnait sur un vaste empire."

Natural Translation

The caliph ruled over a vast empire.

Explore French by topic