What does adhan mean?
The adhan is the public call to prayer in Islam, announced five times daily to mark the times of the obligatory prayers: Fajr (dawn), Dhuhr (midday), Asr (afternoon), Maghrib (sunset), and Isha (night). Traditionally delivered by a muezzin from a mosque's minaret, the call proclaims the greatness of God and affirms that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His messenger. In modern practice the adhan is frequently amplified through loudspeakers, and its sound is one of the most recognizable features of Muslim communities worldwide. The word entered English through Arabic, where 'adhān' derives from a root meaning 'to announce' or 'to inform'. While deeply religious in character, the term also carries cultural resonance, appearing in literature, music, and discussions of urban soundscapes. For readers encountering it, the adhan represents both a practical timekeeping signal and a profound expression of communal faith.
nounThe Islamic call to prayer, recited by a muezzin from a mosque, traditionally five times a day to summon Muslims to obligatory prayers.
- The formal Islamic call to prayer recited aloud at prescribed times each day, traditionally from a mosque's minaret.
- (Less commonly) The act or occasion of making this call.
"The adhan echoed across the city at sunset, calling the faithful to maghrib prayer."
"We woke before dawn to the soft adhan drifting from the mosque down the street."
"In many cities with large Muslim communities, the adhan is now broadcast over loudspeakers five times daily."
Pluralization is uncommon since the adhan typically refers to a single recurring call; when multiple distinct calls are meant, writers often prefer 'calls to prayer'.
"Visitors to Istanbul hear dozens of overlapping adhans at prayer time."
The adhan has sounded from minarets for over fourteen centuries — and it was a freed Abyssinian slave, Bilal ibn Rabah, chosen as Islam's first muezzin, whose voice first called Muslims to prayer.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of adhan
The word 'adhan' comes directly from Arabic 'adhān' (أَذَان), meaning 'announcement' or 'call', derived from the Arabic root verb 'adhina', 'to listen, to announce, to inform'. It entered English through contact with the Arabic-speaking Islamic world, likely via scholarly and travel writing, with variant spellings such as 'azan' arising from differing transliteration conventions. Related terms sharing the same religious sphere include 'muezzin', the person who performs the call, itself from Arabic 'mu'adhdhin', the active participle of the same root.
How adhan is actually used
The word is often italicized in formal writing as an Arabic loanword not fully naturalized in English, though this convention varies. Plural forms are rare in practice; 'adhans' appears occasionally but many writers avoid pluralizing it. Spelling varies widely between 'adhan', 'azan', and 'ezan', reflecting different transliteration systems from Arabic.
Easily confused with adhan
'Azan' is simply a variant transliteration of the same Arabic word; both refer to the identical call to prayer.