Where does “ayatollah” come from?
ayatollah (English) comes from Iranian Persian آیَتُاللّٰه, from Classical Persian آیَةُاللّٰه, from Arabic آيَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ, from Arabic اللّٰه, from Proto-Semitic ʾil- — deity; god.
Ancestry of “ayatollah”, step by step