PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has moved to rebrand terror group Islamic State by calling the evil jihadis a name they hate — Daesh.

The PM urged others to join him and stop calling the murderous hordes ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) or IS (Islamic State).

His decision, to be mirrored by government MPs and officials, was made after talks two weeks ago with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

“Daesh hates being referred to by this term, and what they don’t like has an instinctive ­appeal to me,’’ Mr Abbott told the Herald Sun.

“I absolutely refuse to refer to it by the title that it claims for itself (Islamic State), because I think this is a perversion of religion and a travesty of governance.”

“I’ve never used that term and I would strongly counsel people against ever using the presumptuous title that they have given themselves.’’

Daesh is from an acronym formed from the Arabic spelling of the terror group’s name — al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi Iraq wa al-Sham.

International media has been reporting terror leaders’ threats to “cut out the tongues’’ of those referring to them as Daesh, or DAIISH, as it is also known. There are several theories on why the name is so ­despised, which include ­reports it was first used by supporters of Syrian President ­Bashar al-Assad whom IS is seeking to overthrow.

There are also reports it closely mirrors the Arabic words “daes’’ which means “to trample down or crush’’’ and “dahes’’ which reportedly means something similar to “one who sows discord’’.

The move to rebrand IS comes as western nations, ­including Australia, work to strip away any legitimacy the terror group is trying to build. “The reason why ISIL — or Daesh, as I’ll continue to refer to it — is an issue for Australians is because its ­apparent success in Syria and Iraq has galvanised the people prone to extremism right around the world, and it has become the inspiration for the potential terrorists,’’ Mr Abbott said.

“Given that the fight begins in Iraq and Syria, we probably should refer to this organisation by the term that is most used by its opponents in those countries — that is, Daesh.”

ellen.whinnett@news.com.au