*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of ISIL

An acronym of one English translation of one of the group's Arabic-language names, الدَّوْلَة الْإِسْلَامِيَّة فِي الْعِرَاق وَالشَّام (ad-dawla l-ʔislāmiyya fī l-ʕirāq wa-š-šām, literally “the Islamic State in Iraq and

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
name

Synonym of ISIS.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

An acronym of one English translation of one of the group's Arabic-language names, الدَّوْلَة الْإِسْلَامِيَّة فِي الْعِرَاق وَالشَّام (ad-dawla l-ʔislāmiyya fī l-ʕirāq wa-š-šām, literally “the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant”). Compare ISIS, which translates الشَّام (aš-šām) as “Syria” rather than “the Levant”.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [],
  "links": [
    [
      "الدَّوْلَة الْإِسْلَامِيَّة فِي الْعِرَاق وَالشَّام",
      "الدولة الإسلامية في العراق والشام#Arabic"
    ],
    [
      "ISIS",
      "ISIS#English"
    ],
    [
      "الشَّام",
      "الشام#Arabic"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "Synonym of ISIS."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "58cd88886027fe5695e37cac4f3ab89e3679998d25f703f8164930ae58dda505",
      "rawRecordSha256": "2bc1b6f290cdcae3e3e7dd68aa9de1a2e59f22ff06e54f35a670bd25c0b60f90",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 4827051
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for ISIL →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-SVNJTA