Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913
Sheik
Sheik, n. [Ar. sheikh, shaykh, a venerable old man, a chief, fr. shākha to grow or be old.] The head of an Arab family, or of a clan or a tribe; also, the chief magistrate of an Arab village. The name is also applied to Mohammedan ecclesiastics of a high grade. [Written also scheik, shaik, sheikh.]