difference between the meaning of ''shia'' and ''shiite''

0 Philosophical - see here for explanation : 0500240hrefhttp://islam.about.com/cs/divisions/f/shia_sunni.htm

0 That link just tries to summarise the philosophical differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims. But my question was about Shiite and Shia. 0-

0Apologies05002br
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00Shia is the noun02br
00Shiite is the adjective02br
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00He is a Shia02br
00That is a Shiite mosque010id10

0No, Shiite can also be used as noun according to Merriam Webster's Dictionary. But Shia is always a noun. The following definitions are from MW's Dictionary.02br
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01b00Shiite02b00 01font00(01i00noun02i00): a Muslim of the Shia branch of Islam.02font02br
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01font

0 01table01tr01td02tr02table

00Shiite00 02td

02br
00(also 01b00Shi'ite02b00) 02br
00■00 00noun an adherent of the Shia branch of Islam. 02br
00■00 00adjective relating to Shia. 02br
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01table

0 Or indeed an adjective used as a noun, like blonde {She is a blonde}0-

1b00Person A asks Person B:02b00 Which branch of Islam do you belong to?02br
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01b00Person B replies:02b00 I belong to Shia branch.02br
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01b00Person A:02b00 Well, you are shiite (here I don't think person A can say 01i00well, you are Shia02i00 because from preceding disc

Being of Arab/Shia background I can tell you with confidence that there is no difference between Shia and Shi'ite. The linguistic difference is attributed to the language of origin. In Arabic, there is a silent 't' at the end of the word 'shia' which has been corrupted as a pronounceable t by non-Arabs such as Persians (who are mostly shias). In Arabic the silent 't' is only pronounceable whe

0 Though I am Muslim I haven't heard of Shi'te before 0-

0 Do I understand you correctly that Iranian's call themselves Shi'ites (pronounce the "silent" t) while Arabs would call them Shia? Or is it just some Iranian's who "mispronounce" the word? I recently heard an interview with an Arab reporter who expressed outrage at the Western use of the word Shi'ite, and since then I have noticed that most Muslim politicians and reporters seem to use the wo