Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Mahdi
Mah′di
,Noun.
[Ar., guide, leader.]
Among Muslims, the last imam or leader of the faithful. The Sunni, the largest sect of the Muslims, believe that he is yet to appear.
☞ The title has been taken by several persons in countries where Islam prevails, – notably by
Mohammad Ahmed
, who overran the Egyptian Sudan, and in 1885 captured Khartum, his soldiers killing General Gordon
, an Englishman, who was then the Egyptian governor of the region.