Are the words “Shia” and “Shi’ite” just synonyms or alternate spellings of the same thing, or do they actually have different meanings? From the contexts I’ve seen usually they seem to be equivalent, but once or twice I’ve seen “Shia” used in a way that seemed like it meant something different.
So Shia most commonly refers to the branch of Islam, and Shi’ite to a follower of that branch; however, Shia can also be used as a synonym for Shi’ite.