دل

Arabic

Root
د ل ل (d l l)
9 terms

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dal.la/

Verb

دَلَّ • (dalla) I (non-past يَدُلُّ (yadullu), verbal noun دَلَالَة (dalāla))

1. to show, to indicate, to direct

   الكتاب المقدس يدلُّنا على الطريق الصحيح. ― The Bible shows/directs us to the right path.

2. [+ على] to be evidence of, to be proof of, to attest to, to demonstrate, to establish, to substantiate
3. [+ على] to denote, to designate, to signify, to suggest

   لا شكلي ولا كلامي يَدُلّان على أنّي من الطبقة العُلْيا.

   Neither my way nor my speech show that I am from the upper class.

Conjugation

Conjugation of دَلَّ (I, geminate, a ~ u, full passive (?), verbal noun دَلَالَة)

verbal noun الْمَصْدَر						دَلَالَة dalāla
active participle اِسْم الْفَاعِل						دَالّ dāll
passive participle اِسْم الْمَفْعُول						مَدْلُول madlūl
active voice الْفِعْل الْمَعْلُوم
		singular الْمُفْرَد				dual الْمُثَنَّى			plural الْجَمْع
		1st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب		2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب		1st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب
past (perfect) indicative الْمَاضِي	m	دَلَلْتُ dalaltu	دَلَلْتَ dalalta	دَلَّ dalla		دَلَلْتُمَا dalaltumā	دَلَّا dallā		دَلَلْنَا dalalnā	دَلَلْتُمْ dalaltum	دَلُّوا dallū
	f		دَلَلْتِ dalalti	دَلَّتْ dallat			دَلَّتَا dallatā			دَلَلْتُنَّ dalaltunna	دَلَلْنَ dalalna
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع	m	أَدُلُّ ʔadullu	تَدُلُّ tadullu	يَدُلُّ yadullu		تَدُلَّانِ tadullāni	يَدُلَّانِ yadullāni		نَدُلُّ nadullu	تَدُلُّونَ tadullūna	يَدُلُّونَ yadullūna
	f		تَدُلِّينَ tadullīna	تَدُلُّ tadullu			تَدُلَّانِ tadullāni			تَدْلُلْنَ tadlulna	يَدْلُلْنَ yadlulna
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب	m	أَدُلَّ ʔadulla	تَدُلَّ tadulla	يَدُلَّ yadulla		تَدُلَّا tadullā	يَدُلَّا yadullā		نَدُلَّ nadulla	تَدُلُّوا tadullū	يَدُلُّوا yadullū
	f		تَدُلِّي tadullī	تَدُلَّ tadulla			تَدُلَّا tadullā			تَدْلُلْنَ tadlulna	يَدْلُلْنَ yadlulna
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم	m	أَدُلَّ, أَدُلِّ, أَدْلُلْ ʔadulla, ʔadulli, ʔadlul	تَدُلَّ, تَدُلِّ, تَدْلُلْ tadulla, tadulli, tadlul	يَدُلَّ, يَدُلِّ, يَدْلُلْ yadulla, yadulli, yadlul		تَدُلَّا tadullā	يَدُلَّا yadullā		نَدُلَّ, نَدُلِّ, نَدْلُلْ nadulla, nadulli, nadlul	تَدُلُّوا tadullū	يَدُلُّوا yadullū
	f		تَدُلِّي tadullī	تَدُلَّ, تَدُلِّ, تَدْلُلْ tadulla, tadulli, tadlul			تَدُلَّا tadullā			تَدْلُلْنَ tadlulna	يَدْلُلْنَ yadlulna
imperative الْأَمْر	m		دُلَّ, دُلِّ, اُدْلُلْ dulla, dulli, udlul			دُلَّا dullā				دُلُّوا dullū
	f		دُلِّي dullī							اُدْلُلْنَ udlulna
passive voice الْفِعْل الْمَجْهُول
		singular الْمُفْرَد				dual الْمُثَنَّى			plural الْجَمْع
		1st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب		2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب		1st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب
past (perfect) indicative الْمَاضِي	m	دُلِلْتُ duliltu	دُلِلْتَ dulilta	دُلَّ dulla		دُلِلْتُمَا duliltumā	دُلَّا dullā		دُلِلْنَا dulilnā	دُلِلْتُمْ duliltum	دُلُّوا dullū
	f		دُلِلْتِ dulilti	دُلَّتْ dullat			دُلَّتَا dullatā			دُلِلْتُنَّ duliltunna	دُلِلْنَ dulilna
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع	m	أُدَلُّ ʔudallu	تُدَلُّ tudallu	يُدَلُّ yudallu		تُدَلَّانِ tudallāni	يُدَلَّانِ yudallāni		نُدَلُّ nudallu	تُدَلُّونَ tudallūna	يُدَلُّونَ yudallūna
	f		تُدَلِّينَ tudallīna	تُدَلُّ tudallu			تُدَلَّانِ tudallāni			تُدْلَلْنَ tudlalna	يُدْلَلْنَ yudlalna
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب	m	أُدَلَّ ʔudalla	تُدَلَّ tudalla	يُدَلَّ yudalla		تُدَلَّا tudallā	يُدَلَّا yudallā		نُدَلَّ nudalla	تُدَلُّوا tudallū	يُدَلُّوا yudallū
	f		تُدَلِّي tudallī	تُدَلَّ tudalla			تُدَلَّا tudallā			تُدْلَلْنَ tudlalna	يُدْلَلْنَ yudlalna
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم	m	أُدَلَّ, أُدَلِّ, أُدْلَلْ ʔudalla, ʔudalli, ʔudlal	تُدَلَّ, تُدَلِّ, تُدْلَلْ tudalla, tudalli, tudlal	يُدَلَّ, يُدَلِّ, يُدْلَلْ yudalla, yudalli, yudlal		تُدَلَّا tudallā	يُدَلَّا yudallā		نُدَلَّ, نُدَلِّ, نُدْلَلْ nudalla, nudalli, nudlal	تُدَلُّوا tudallū	يُدَلُّوا yudallū
	f		تُدَلِّي tudallī	تُدَلَّ, تُدَلِّ, تُدْلَلْ tudalla, tudalli, tudlal			تُدَلَّا tudallā			تُدْلَلْنَ tudlalna	يُدْلَلْنَ yudlalna

Baluchi

Etymology

From Classical Persian دل (dil), from Proto-Iranian *jā́rd, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ȷ́ʰā́rd, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱḗr.

Compare Avestan 𐬰𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬛 (zərəd), old Mazanderani زیله (zila) Sanskrit हृदय (hṛdaya), Armenian սիրտ (sirt), and English heart.

Doublet of زرد, which was inherited.

Noun

دل • (dil)

1. (anatomy) heart

   Synonym: زرد (zird)

Derived terms

• دلبر (dilbar, “sweetheart, beloved”)
• دلکهر (dilkahr, “heartbroken”)
• زنده‌دل (zinda-dil, “lively”)
• شیردل (šérdel, “brave”)

Gujarati

Noun

دل • (dil) n

1. Lisan ud-Dawat spelling of દિલ (dil)

Laki

Noun

دل (dil)

1. heart

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *til (“tongue; language”).

Alternative forms

• دیل (dil)

Noun

دل • (dil)

1. tongue (organ)
2. anything shaped like a tongue
   1. (geography) spit, promontory
   2. tenon
3. tongue (language)
4. a prisoner taken to gain information

Derived terms

• دل باغی (dil bağı, “frenulum”)
• دل بالغی (dil balığı, “kind of flatfish”)
• دلجك (dilcik, “clitoris”)
• صیغیر دلی (sığır dili, “bugloss”)

Descendants

• Turkish: dil

Etymology 2

From Classical Persian دل (dil).

Noun

دل • (dil)

1. heart (organ)

   Synonyms: یورك (yürek), قلب (kalb)

2. (figurative) heart, courage; mind, feelings

   Synonym: گوڭل (göñül)

Descendants

• Turkish: dil

References

• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “دل”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[1] (in French), Constantinople: Mihran, page 600
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “dil1”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “dil2”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “دل”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[2], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 910

Persian

Etymology

From Middle Persian 𐭣𐭩𐭫 (dyl /⁠dil⁠/), from Proto-Iranian *jā́rd, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ȷ́ʰā́rd, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱḗr; with a regular phonetic shift *ȷ́ŕ̥d- > *dŕ̥d > *dŕ̥l > dil. For the phonetic change, compare گل (gol) and سالار (sâlâr).

Cognates with Parthian 𐫉𐫏𐫡𐫅 (zyrd /⁠zirδ⁠/), Avestan 𐬰𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬛 (zərəd), old Mazanderani زیله (zila), Northern Kurdish dil, Sanskrit हृदय (hṛdaya), Armenian սիրտ (sirt), Pashto زړه (zrë,zra) and English heart.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈdil/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪ɪl]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪ɪl]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [d̪ɪl]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [d̪il̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪el̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪il]

Readings
Classical reading?	dil
Dari reading?	dil
Iranian reading?	del
Tajik reading?	dil

• Audio (Dari):

  (file)

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

Noun

Dari	دل
Iranian Persian
Tajik	дил

دِل • (del) (plural دل‌ها)

1. (original sense, now less common) heart

   Synonym: (now more common) قلب (qalb)

2. (now common) stomach

   دلم درد می‌کند ― del-am dard mi-konad ― I have a stomachache

3. mind; (figurative) the heart (as the seat of emotion)

   دلم شکست ― del-am šekast ― my heart is broken

   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume II, verse 1543:

     برق خندد بر که میخندد بگو
     بر کسی که دل نهد بر نور او

     barq xandad bar ki mē-xandad bi-gō
     bar kas-ē ki dil nihad bar nūr-i ō

     The lightning laughs: say, at whom is it laughing?
     At him that sets his heart upon its light.

4. courage

Derived terms

• اهل دل (ahl-e del)
• بزدل (bozdel)
• دل دادن (del dâdan)
• دلاور (delâvar)
  • دلیر (dalir)
• دلباخته (delbâxte)
• دلبر (delbar)
• دلتنگ (deltang)
• دلداده (deldâde)
• دلدار (deldâr)
• دلربا (delrobâ)
• دلسوز (delsuz)
• شیردل (širdel)
• همدل (hamdel)
• یکدل (yekdel)

Descendants

• → Old Azari: دل (dil, dul)
• → Azerbaijani: dil
• → Baluchi: دل (dil)
• → Bengali: দিল (dil)
• → Chagatai: دل
  • Uyghur: دىل (dil)
  • Uzbek: dil
• → Gilaki: دل (dil)
• → Gujarati: દિલ (dil)

  Lisan ud-Dawat Gujarati: دل (dil)

• → Harzani: دل (del)
• → Old Hindi: दिल (dila)
  • Hindustani: dil

    Hindi: दिल

    Urdu: دِل (dil)

• → Judeo-Tat: дуьл (dyl)
• → Central Kurdish: دڵ (dill)
• → Northern Kurdish: dil
• → Southern Kurdish: دڵ (dill)
• → Kyrgyz: дил (dil)
• → Laki: دڵ (dill), دل (dil)
• → Maithili: dil

  Devanagari script: दिल

  Tirhuta script: 𑒠𑒱𑒪

• → Marathi: दिल (dil)
• → Marwari: दिल (dil)
• → Mazanderani: دل (del)
• → Nepali: दिल (dil)
• → Odia: ଦିଲ (dila)
• → Old Punjabi: ਦਿਲੁ (dilu)
  • Punjabi: dil

    Gurmukhi script: ਦਿਲ

    Shahmukhi script: دِل

• → Ottoman Turkish: دل
  • Turkish: dil
• → Sindhi:

  Arabic script: دِلُ

  Devanagari script: दिलु

• → Northern Talysh: dıl (del)
• → Southern Talysh: دیل (dil /⁠dīl⁠/), دل (dıl /⁠del⁠/)
• → Turkmen: dil
• → Yagnobi: дил (dil)

Punjabi

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian دل (dil). First attested as Old Punjabi ਦਿਲੁ (dilu).

Noun

دِل • (dil) m (Gurmukhi spelling ਦਿਲ)

1. heart
2. mind
3. soul
4. spirit, valor
5. courage

Declension

Declension of دل

	singular	plural
direct	دِل (dil)	دِل (dil)
oblique	دِل (dil)	دِلاں (dilāṉ)
vocative	دِلا (dilā)	دِلو (dilo)
ablative	دِلوں (diloṉ)	دِلاں (dilāṉ)
locative	دِلے (dile)	دِلِیں (dilīṉ)
instrumental	دِلوں (diloṉ)	–

Sindhi

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian دل (dil).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [d̪ɪlɪ]

Noun

دِلِ • (dili) f (Devanagari दिलि)

1. heart
2. courage
3. desire

References

• Khānu, Balocu (1960–1988) “دِلِ”, in Jāmiʻ Sindhī lughāta (in Sindhi), Hyderabad, Sindh: Sindhī Adabī Borḍ

South Levantine Arabic

Root
د ل ل
2 terms

Etymology

From Arabic دَلَّ (dalla).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dall/, [dal]

• Audio (al-Lidd):

  (file)

Verb

دلّ • (dall) I (present بدلّ (bidill))

1. to guide, to direct, to indicate

   Synonyms: أرشد (ʔaršad), أشر (ʔaššar)

Conjugation

Conjugation of دل

		singular				plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
past	m	دلّيت (dallēt)	دلّيت (dallēt)	دلّ (dall)		دلّينا (dallēna)	دلّيتو (dallētu)	دلّو (dallu)
	f		دلّيتي (dallēti)	دلّت (dallat)
present	m	بدلّ (badill)	بتدلّ (bitdill)	بدلّ (bidill)		مندلّ (mindill)	بتدلّو (bitdillu)	بدلّو (bidillu)
	f		بتدلّي (bitdilli)	بتدلّ (bitdill)
subjunctive	m	ادلّ (adill)	تدلّ (tdill)	يدلّ (ydill)		ندلّ (ndill)	تدلّو (tdillu)	يدلّو (ydillu)
	f		تدلّي (tdilli)	تدلّ (tdill)
imperative	m		دلّ (dill)				دلّو (dillu)
	f		دلّي (dilli)

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian دل (dil). First attested in c. 1265 as Old Hindi دل (dl) and later as Middle Hindi دل (dl).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /d̪ɪl/

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪl

Noun

دِل • (dil) m (Hindi spelling दिल)

1. (anatomy) heart

   Synonym: قلب (qalb)

2. mind; conscience

   Synonyms: من (man), دماغ (dimāġ)

3. mind; imagination
4. attention
5. (figuratively) wish

Declension

Declension of دل

	singular	plural
direct	دِل (dil)	دِل (dil)
oblique	دِل (dil)	دِلوں (dilõ)
vocative	دِل (dil)	دِلو (dilo)

Further reading

More information

• “دل”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “دل”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co., page 312
• Platts, John T. (1884) “دل”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 523
• S. W. Fallon (1879) “دل”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co.
• John Shakespear (1834) “دل”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC