\Ba*hai"\ (b[.a]*h[imac]"), n.; pl. {Bahais} (-h[imac]z).
A member of the sect of the Babis consisting of the adherents
of Baha (Mirza Husain Ali, entitled ``Baha 'u 'llah,'' or,
``the Splendor of God''), the elder half brother of Mirza
Yahya of Nur, who succeeded the Bab as the head of the
Babists. Baha in 1863 declared himself the supreme prophet of
the sect, and became its recognized head. There are upwards
of 20,000 Bahais in the United States.