Dictionary entry

Caliph

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Ca″liph (kā″lĭf), n. [OE. caliphe, califfe, F. calife (cf. Sp. califa), fr. Ar. khalīfan successor, fr. khalafa to succed.] Successor or vicar; — a title of the successors of Mohammed both as temporal and spiritual rulers, now used by the sultans of Turkey. [Written also calif.]