Notes on Terminology

The blog provides a charter for navigating a diversity of terms of reference related to individual and community beliefs, experiences, positionalities and opinions across members of the Ezidi community located in the Middle East and Caucasus regions as well as their diasporas in Europe, North America and Australia. It introduces a brief history and the rationale for key terms used to refer to the people, their language, and their associated places.

The ethnonym referring to the Ezidi people or ethnic-religious group appears in multiple forms in modern languages, most commonly Yazidi or Yezidi (in English), Jesiden and Yeziden (in German), and Yézidi (in French). However, a growing body of scholarship and community-based discourse emphasises Ezidi (or Êzidî) as the endonym—that is, the name used by the community itself.

Some Ezidi narratives trace the term, Ezidi, to the expression and also name of their community Ezdai, Ez-dayî, Xwedê ez da (“God created me”), reflecting a theological self-understanding rooted in antiquity. While such etymologies are meaningful within community traditions, they remain debated in academic circles, where linguistic and historical analyses do not all confirm a direct derivation from ancient Mesopotamian languages.

A persistent controversy concerns the association of the term, Yazidi, with Yazid ibn Mu'awiya, the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate ruling from 680-683. Many Ezidi people and scholars reject this connection, arguing that it is historically unfounded and contributes to the misunderstanding of Ezidi identity, history and religion. Contemporary research generally treats the link as speculative or erroneous. Increasingly, scholars adopt Ezidi or Êzidî in recognition of community preference and to avoid problematic historical associations. This shift also reflects broader academic practice favoring endonyms over exonyms when discussing ethnoreligious groups.

Painting by Qashim Alshargy

Similarly, the linguistic identity of the Ezidi people is complex and shaped by regional, historical, and political factors. Accordingly, different terms are used by them to describe the language spoken, including Kurdish, Kurmanjî, Ezidi and Ezdîkî. Since the 2014 genocide in Shingal, discussions surrounding the terms of reference have become increasingly prominent, some also preferring to use the term Shingali to describe their language.

Ezidism is considered a religion by some, while others see it as an ethnicity by way of ancestral descent, a philosophy, and/or a way of life. While religious practices are shared among Ezidi communities across and from regions in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Armenia, cultural traditions, everyday practices, political orientations, and spoken dialects are not. However, whichever way one looks at the issue, one can only be an Ezidi if born to Ezidi parents. Ezidi unity has also crystallised on the basis of specific features of ancient pre-Islamic legacies, and recent history especially with regards to discrimination, violence and genocide against them, which now numbers 74 over the last few centuries including the one executed in 2014 by Da’esh.

Likewise, the geographic designation of the Ezidi homeland in northern Iraq reflects complex identity politics. The name of the district of Sinjar in Nineveh Governorate derives from Arabic usage, while Shingal (Şingal) corresponds to Ezidi and local pronunciation. In Ezidi discourse, Shingal is often preferred as a marker of cultural and historical belonging, and has various resonances—as mountain, district, sub-district and city in the region. However, district administrative zones do not fully reflect colloquial references. For instance, as a legacy of the Ba’ath regime in the 1970s, Til Ezer belongs to the Baaj District of Nineveh Governorate, yet socially, culturally, and religiously, they are integrated into the broader Ezidi homeland of Shingal region.

About 300,000 Ezidi people live in the Middle East and Caucasus regions. Due to earlier migration and the 2014 genocide, about 250,000 are now in Germany, approximately 50,000 in other EU countries and UK, around 12,000 in USA and Canada, and roughly 3,000 in Australia. Currently, some of them are at risk of deportation due to the authorities’ lack of understanding of the genocide, its ongoing nature, and related circumstances, which make having a continued existence as Ezidi people difficult if not impossible in their former homes in Shingal. Over 2,700 Ezidi women and children remain missing and unaccounted for, and likely to be subject to slavery and violence in other parts of the world where they had been trafficked by Da’esh and their accomplices since 2014.

Ways Forward

In view of such terminological and identity diversity, some researchers adopt a position that is personally grounded and/or methodologically transparent. As a research team, we accept positional differences without prior judgement. On the question of the community, we have opted to use the endonym Ezidi (with initial “E”) when referring to the community. With regard to geographical reference to the main site of the 2014 atrocities, the team as a whole uses Shingal rather than Sinjar, as it aligns more closely with local and cultural usage. However, in formal, institutional and media contexts, we recognise the value of terminological clarity and accessibility when reaching out to wider publics; therefore, we adopt a dual- or triple-referencing approach at first mention as Ezidi (Yazidi/Yezidi) and Shingal (Sinjar), after which we consistently use Ezidi and Shingal throughout the text.

When it comes to language, experiences, positionalities and opinions may differ even more—for instance, some may continue to use older terminology such as Kurdish or Kurmanji. Others may view the language as a mother tongue that constantly evolves: they reflect different perspectives on the Ezidi-Kurdish question, preferring to call the language, Ezdîkî or Ezidi. This phenomena reflects its increasing usage among post-genocide Shingalis in the diaspora. Others may vacillate between terms—Kurdish, Kurmanji, Ezidi, Ezdîkî or Shingali—with a few opting to use more neutral expressions such as the language that Ezidi people speak. This acceptance of difference seeks to balance academic convention with respect for the contingencies of community and individual self-designation, while also reducing ambiguity and misinformation in a lot of scholarly, research and media outlets.

Farhad Shamo Roto, Raminder Kaur, and Leyla Ferman, 2026