ulama

Ultimately from Classical Nahuatl ōllamaliztli. See also ullamaliztli.

ulama (uncountable)

1. A (modern) ball game, descended from tlachtli.

Borrowed from Arabic عُلَمَاء‎ (ʕulamāʔ).

ulama pl (plural only)

1. (Islam) Alternative form of ulema
   • 2000, Zadie Smith, White Teeth, London: Penguin Books, published 2001, →ISBN, page 469:

     There he […] became disillusioned with much of the Islamic clerical establishment, and first expressed his contempt for what he called ‘religious secularists’, those foolish ulama who attempt to separate politics from religion.

Borrowed from Sinhalese [Term?].

ulama

1. The devil bird (an avian cryptid of Sri Lanka)
   • 1849 June, The Dublin University Magazine, page 692:

     There is a bird in Ceylon, which the natives call ulama, or the demon bird, which utters most loud and ear-piercing screams, strongly resembling the shrieks of a human being in severe bodily agony.

From Malay ulama, from Classical Malay ulama, from Arabic عُلَمَاء‎ (ʕulamāʔ), plural of عَالِم‎ (ʕālim, “learned one”).

• IPA^(key): /u.la.ma/
• Hyphenation: ula‧ma

ulama

1. (Islam) alim

• “ulama” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

ulama f (uncountable)

1. a Mesoamerican game played with a rubber ball and racquet