Baba ("father, grandfather, wise old man, sir")Platts, John T. (John Thompson). ''A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English''. London: W. H. Allen & Co., 1884. is an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an Honorary title (academic), h ...

term, used in several

West Asian West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

Southeast Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...

an and African cultures. It is used as a mark of respect to refer to

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

ascetics ('' sannyasis'') and

Sikh guru The Sikh gurus (Punjabi language, Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰੂ; Hindi: सिख गुरु) are the spiritual masters of Sikhism, who established the religion over the course of about two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469. The year ...

s, as a suffix or prefix to their names, e.g. Sai Baba of Shirdi, Baba Ramdev, etc. ''Baba'' is also a title accorded to Alevi clerics of

Shia Islam Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

, also among Sunni leaders and heads of certain

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

orders, as in Baba Bulleh Shah, Baba Farid, and Rehman Baba. One of the most revered high priests in Samaritan tradition is Baba Rabba, literally "The Great Father".Tsedaka, B. (2014)
"A Fruity Sukkah Made from the Four Species"
TheTorah.com. He lived c. 3rd–4th century C.E. ''Baba'' is also the title used for the Israeli Kabbalistic rabbis of the Abuhatzeira family, descendants of Rabbi Israel Abuhatzeira, originally from Morocco, who was called the Baba Sali, and his brother Isaac Abuhatzeira, the Baba Chaki. The term was also adopted in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

as an honorific of respect to address Chinese people born in the British Straits Settlement.''Baba'' in ''Baba'' is also the familiar word for "father" in many languages (see mama and papa); in many different cultures it has even been adapted to address male children. Baba also means grandmother in many countries, e.g., short for babushka (Russian for grandmother).

See also

References

Further reading