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{{Short description|Arabic masculine honorific meaning "saint" or "my master"}}
{{About|the Arabic honorific}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}

'''''Sidi''''' or '''''Sayidi''''', also '''Sayyidi''' and '''Sayeedi''', ({{langx|ar|سيدي|Sayyīdī, Sīdī}} <small>(dialectal)</small> "[[milord]]") is an [[Arabic]] masculine [[title of respect]]. ''Sidi'' is used often to mean "saint" or "my master" in [[Maghrebi Arabic]]  and [[Egyptian Arabic]]. Without the 
first person possessive object pronoun ''-ī'' (ي-), the [[Sayyid|word]] is used similarly in other dialects, in which case it would be the equivalent to modern popular usage of the [[English language|English]] ''[[Mr]]''. It is also used in dialects such as [[Mashriqi Arabic|Eastern Arabic]], as well as by Muslims of the [[Indian subcontinent]] in the [[Urdu]] language where, however, it does not have as much currency as ''[[Sayyid]] (same spelling: سيد)'', ''[[Janab]]'' or ''[[Sahib]]''.

==Specific usage==
Occasionally a respected member of Muslim society will be given the title ''Sidi'' by default in recognition of upright standing and wisdom. This especially applies to [[marabout|marabouts]], hence the term appears in places and mosques named after one.

===Morocco===
*'''''Sidi''''', the title, translated as 'Lord', used as a substitute for [[Lalla (title)|Moulay]] by those male members of the ruling [[Alaouite dynasty|Alawi]] dynasty sharing the first name of the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]]
*'''''Smiyet (or Smiyit) Sidi''''', a style usually reserved for the Sovereign or the Heir Apparent, loosely, but imperfectly, translated as 'His Lordship' or 'Monseigneur'. Also is a title of respect used for a son bearing the same name as his father or grandfather

===Saudi Arabia===
In the [[Hijaz]] region of [[Saudi Arabia]], the word is used as an honorific when addressing an older brother by many of the more traditional families.

===Tunisia===
Separate variants and a shift of meaning appeared: 
* ''Si'' means "Mister" or "[[Sir]]", while ''Sidi'' means "Master" or "[[Saint]]", depending on the context. For example, older [[conservatism|conservative]] [[Demographics of Tunisia|Tunisian]] [[women]] call their husbands "Sidi", not by the first name; older conservative Tunisians (both men and women) call their older brothers "Sidi", especially when there is a large age difference between them. Some Tunisian grandparents also call their grandsons "sidi". Babysitters of Tunisian children who live with their grandparents also call the child that they take care of "sidi" if the child is a boy.

''[[Lalla (title)|Lalla]]'' (of [[Amazigh]] origin) when used in a social context, and ''[[Sayyid|Sayyeda]]'' when speaking about female saints, for example "''(Es-)Sayyeda El-Manoubiyya''" are female equivalents.

===Andalus (Islamic Iberia)===
The term was also used by Arabic Spanish, Portuguese, and Berbers in [[Andalusi Romance|Mozarabic]]-speaking [[Moorish Spain]] (cf. [[El Cid]]).

==See also==
* [[Sayyid]]
* [[El Cid]]
* [[Si Kaddour Benghabrit]]

==Sources==
*{{cite book|last1=Ben Sedira|first1=Belkassem|author-link=Belkassem Ben Sedira|title=Dictionnaire français-arabe de la langue parlé en Algérie|date=1910|location=Alger|page=391|publisher=Alger, Jourdan|url=https://archive.org/stream/dictionnairefran00abaluoft#page/390/mode/1up}}

[[Category:Arabic words and phrases]]
[[Category:Maghreb]]
[[Category:Men's social titles]]
[[Category:Noble titles]]
[[Category:Moroccan Arabic words and phrases]]
[[Category:Tunisian Arabic words and phrases]]
[[Category:Egyptian Arabic]]
[[Category:Gulf Arabic]]