ألف

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See also: الف, الق, ألق, إلق, and إلف

Arabic

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Etymology 1

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From Phoenician 𐤀𐤋𐤐 (ʾlp).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ʔa.lif/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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أَلِف (ʔaliff (plural أَلِفَات (ʔalifāt))

  1. Name of the first letter of the Arabic alphabet (ا / ‍ا).
Declension
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Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • Azerbaijani: əlif
  • Classical Persian: اَلِف (alif)
  • Uzbek: alif

Etymology 2

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From Proto-Semitic *ʔalp-.

Numeral

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Arabic numbers (edit)
[a], [b] ←  100  ←  900 ١٬٠٠٠
1,000
2,000  →  1,000,000 (106)  → [a], [b]
100[a], [b]
    Cardinal: أَلْف (ʔalf)

أَلْف (ʔalfm (dual أَلْفَانِ (ʔalfāni), plural آلَاف (ʔālāf) or أُلُوف (ʔulūf))

  1. thousand
    أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ (ʔalfu laylatin walaylatun) — One thousand and one nights (lit. "a thousand nights and a night")
Usage notes
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Declension
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Derived terms
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Descendants
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Etymology 3

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From Proto-Semitic *ʔalap- (to be familiar with). From the root ء ل ف (ʔ-l-f).

Verb

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أَلِفَ (ʔalifa) I (non-past يَأْلَفُ (yaʔlafu), verbal noun أَلْف (ʔalf) or إِلْف (ʔilf))

  1. to be or become familiar with, to become accustomed, to share the yoke, to be or become amicable or tame
    • c. 1200, يحيى بن محمد بن أحمد بن العوام [yaḥyā ibn muḥammad ibn ʔaḥmad ibn al-ʕawwām], edited by José Antonio Banqueri, كتاب الفلاحة [Book on Agriculture], volume 2, Madrid: Imprenta Real, published 1802IA, Cap. 27, Art. 21, pages 284–285:
      وقيل أنه إذا طليت خلايا من داخلها بعصارة ورقه ألفها النحل وأنجلبت إليها وقيل من ترنجان نوع بري نقول ضد ذلك وهو إذا طرح مع النحلة أحرجها.
      And it is said (about the lemon-balm Melissa officinalis) that when one daubs beehives from the inner with an extract pressed from its leaves then the bees approve of it and are attracted to them and it is said of the lemon-balm’s wild form, the dead-nettle (Lamium flexuosum), that one has to say against that that when it is advanced to a bee it drives it out.
Conjugation
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Noun

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أَلْف (ʔalfm

  1. verbal noun of أَلِف (ʔalif) (form I)
Declension
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Etymology 4

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From Proto-Semitic *ʔallip- (to tame, to domesticate; to familiarize, to instruct; to unite, to join). From the root ء ل ف (ʔ-l-f).

Verb

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أَلَّفَ (ʔallafa) II (non-past يُؤَلِّفُ (yuʔallifu), verbal noun تَأْلِيف (taʔlīf))

  1. to unite, join, combine, put together
  2. to unite with the rest of the subjugated animals of man, to make familiar, to accustom, to tame
  3. to compile, compose, be the author of (a book)
    كَانَ الشَّاعِرُ يُحِبُّ أَن يُأَلِّفَ قَصَائِدَهُ فِي الطَّبِيعَةِ.
    kāna š-šāʕiru yuḥibbu ʔan yuʔallifa qaṣāʔidahu fī ṭ-ṭabīʕati.
    The poet loved to compose his poems in nature.
  4. to form
    الْأَوْلَوِيَّةُ تَبْقَى لِٱنْتِخَابِ رَئِيسٍ جَدِيدٍ لِلْبِلَادِ وَتَأْلِيفِ حُكُومَةٍ جَدِيدَةٍ.
    al-ʔawlawiyyatu tabqā lintiḵābi raʔīsin jadīdin lilbilādi wataʔlīfi ḥukūmatin jadīdatin.
    The priority remains to elect a new president for the country and form a new government.
Conjugation
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Etymology 5

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Verb

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ألف (form IV)

  1. أُلْفِ (ʔulfi) /ʔul.fi/: first-person singular non-past active jussive of أَلْفَى (ʔalfā)
  2. أُلْفَ (ʔulfa) /ʔul.fa/: first-person singular non-past passive jussive of أَلْفَى (ʔalfā)
  3. أَلْفِ (ʔalfi) /ʔal.fi/: second-person masculine singular imperative of أَلْفَى (ʔalfā)

Egyptian Arabic

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Egyptian Arabic numbers (edit)
 ←  100  ←  200 1,000 2,000  →  1,000,000 (106)  → 
100
    Cardinal: ألف

Etymology

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From Arabic أَلْف (ʔalf).

Numeral

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ألف (ʔalfm (dual ألفين (ʔalfēn), plural آلاف (ʔalāf), paucal تلاف (talāf))

  1. thousand

Moroccan Arabic

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Etymology

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Moroccan Arabic numbers (edit)
10,000
 ←  100  ←  900 1,000 2,000  →  10,000  → 
100
    Cardinal: ألف

From Arabic أَلْف (ʔalf).

Pronunciation

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Numeral

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ألف (ʔalfm (dual ألفَيْن (ʔalfayn) or ألفِين (ʔalfīn), plural آلاف (ʔālāf))

  1. thousand

South Levantine Arabic

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Root
ء ل ف
1 term

Etymology 1

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From Arabic أَلَّفَ (ʔallafa).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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ألّف (ʔallaf) II (present بألّف (biʔallef))

  1. to author, to compose
  2. (figurative, by extension) to invent or come up with (a story)
Conjugation
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    Conjugation of ألّف (ʔallaf)
singular plural
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
past m ألّفت (ʔallaft) ألّفت (ʔallaft) ألّف (ʔallaf) ألّفنا (ʔallafna) ألّفتو (ʔallaftu) ألّفو (ʔallafu)
f ألّفتي (ʔallafti) ألّفت (ʔallafat)
present m بألّف (baʔallef) بتألّف (bitʔallef) بألّف (biʔallef) منألّف (minʔallef) بتألّفو (bitʔallfu) بألّفو (biʔallfu)
f بتألّفي (bitʔallfi) بتألّف (bitʔallef)
subjunctive m األّف (aʔallef) تألّف (tʔallef) يألّف (yʔallef) نألّف (nʔallef) تألّفو (tʔallfu) يألّفو (yʔallfu)
f تألّفي (tʔallfi) تألّف (tʔallef)
imperative m ألّف (ʔallef) ألّفو (ʔallfu)
f ألّفي (ʔallfi)

Etymology 2

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South Levantine Arabic numbers (edit)
10,000
 ←  100  ←  900 ١٬٠٠٠
1,000
2,000  →  10,000  → 
100
    Cardinal: ألف

From Arabic أَلْف (ʔalf).

Pronunciation

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Numeral

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ألف (ʔalfm (dual ألفين (ʔalfēn), plural آلاف (ʔālāf) or ألوف (ʔulūf))

  1. thousand