dervish

noun

1. a member of any of various Muslim ascetic orders, as the Sufis, some of which carry on ecstatic observances, such as energetic dancing and whirling or vociferous chanting or shouting.

noun

1. a member of any of various Muslim orders of ascetics, some of which (whirling dervishes) are noted for a frenzied, ecstatic, whirling dance

n.

1580s, from Turkish dervish, from Persian darvesh, darvish “beggar, poor,” hence “religious mendicant;” equivalent of Arabic faqir (cf. fakir). The “whirling dervishes” are just one order among many. Originally dervis; modern spelling is from mid-19c.