دلال

Arabic

Etymology 1

Root
د ل ل (d l l)
9 terms

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /da.laːl/

Noun

دَلَال • (dalāl) m

1. verbal noun of دَلَّ (dalla) (form I)
2. coquetry, coquettishness

Declension

Declension of noun دَلَال (dalāl)

singular	basic singular triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	دَلَال dalāl	الدَّلَال ad-dalāl	دَلَال dalāl
nominative	دَلَالٌ dalālun	الدَّلَالُ ad-dalālu	دَلَالُ dalālu
accusative	دَلَالًا dalālan	الدَّلَالَ ad-dalāla	دَلَالَ dalāla
genitive	دَلَالٍ dalālin	الدَّلَالِ ad-dalāli	دَلَالِ dalāli

Etymology 2

Occupational noun from دَلَّ (dalla, “to show”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dal.laːl/

Noun

دَلَّال • (dallāl) m (plural دَلَّالُون (dallālūn))

1. somebody who procures business agreements. auctioneer, broker, pimp, etc.

Declension

Declension of noun دَلَّال (dallāl)

singular	basic singular triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	دَلَّال dallāl	الدَّلَّال ad-dallāl	دَلَّال dallāl
nominative	دَلَّالٌ dallālun	الدَّلَّالُ ad-dallālu	دَلَّالُ dallālu
accusative	دَلَّالًا dallālan	الدَّلَّالَ ad-dallāla	دَلَّالَ dallāla
genitive	دَلَّالٍ dallālin	الدَّلَّالِ ad-dallāli	دَلَّالِ dallāli
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	دَلَّالَيْن dallālayn	الدَّلَّالَيْن ad-dallālayn	دَلَّالَيْ dallālay
nominative	دَلَّالَانِ dallālāni	الدَّلَّالَانِ ad-dallālāni	دَلَّالَا dallālā
accusative	دَلَّالَيْنِ dallālayni	الدَّلَّالَيْنِ ad-dallālayni	دَلَّالَيْ dallālay
genitive	دَلَّالَيْنِ dallālayni	الدَّلَّالَيْنِ ad-dallālayni	دَلَّالَيْ dallālay
plural	sound masculine plural
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	دَلَّالِين dallālīn	الدَّلَّالِين ad-dallālīn	دَلَّالِي dallālī
nominative	دَلَّالُونَ dallālūna	الدَّلَّالُونَ ad-dallālūna	دَلَّالُو dallālū
accusative	دَلَّالِينَ dallālīna	الدَّلَّالِينَ ad-dallālīna	دَلَّالِي dallālī
genitive	دَلَّالِينَ dallālīna	الدَّلَّالِينَ ad-dallālīna	دَلَّالِي dallālī

Descendants

• → Ottoman Turkish: دلال (dellal), تلال (tellal)
  • Turkish: tellal
  • → Albanian: tellall
  • → Armenian: թէլլալ (tʻēllal)
  • → Romanian: telal
• → Persian: دلال (dallâl) (see there for further descendants)
• → Portuguese: adelo

Ottoman Turkish

Alternative forms

• تلال (tellal)

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic دَلّال (dallāl).

Noun

دلال • (dellal /tellal/) (feminine (only sense 3) دلاله)

1. town crier, announcer
2. broker, auctioneer
4. pimp, bawd

Derived terms

• دلاللامق (dellallamak)
• دلاللق (dellallık), تلاللق (tellallık), تلاللك (tellalik)
• دلاله (dellale)
• دلالیه (dellaliye)
• محبت دلالی (muhabbet dellalı, “pimp”)

Descendants

• Turkish: tellal
• → Albanian: tellall
• → Armenian: թէլլալ (tʻēllal)
• → Romanian: telal

References

• Kélékian, Diran (1911), “دلال”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[1] (in French), Constantinople: Mihran, page 578
• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “دلال”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[2], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 910

Persian

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Arabic دَلَّال (dallāl).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /dal.ˈlaːl/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪äl.lɑ́ːl]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪äl.lɑ́ːl]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [d̪äl.lɑ́ːl]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [d̪äl.lɔ́ːl̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪æl.lɒ́ːl̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪äl.lɔ́l]

Readings
Classical reading?	dallāl
Dari reading?	dallāl
Iranian reading?	dallâl
Tajik reading?	dallol

Noun

دَلّال • (dallâl)

1. somebody who procures business agreements: auctioneer, broker, pimp, etc.
   • 1177, Farīd ud-Dīn ʿAṭṭār, “حکایت پیرزنی که به ده کلاوه ریسمان خریدار یوسف شد [The Tale of an Old Woman who Bid for Joseph with Ten Hanks of Thread]”, in منطق الطیر [The Conference of the Birds], lines 2605—2607:

     در میان جمع آمد در خروش، گفت ای دلال کنعانی فروش، ز آرزوی این پسر سر گشته‌ام.

     dar miyân-e jam' âmad dar xoruš, goft ey dallâl kan'âni foruš, ze ârzu-ye in pesar sar-gašte-am.

     In the middle of the throng, she came while crying, saying "O auctioneer! Sell the Canaanite [to me]; I am mad with longing for this boy."

Descendants

• → Armenian: դալլալ (dallal), դալալ (dalal)
• → Assamese: দালাল (dalal)
• → Middle Bengali: দালাল (dalal)
  • Bengali: দালাল (dalal)
• → Gujarati: દલાલ (dalāl)
• → Old Hindi: दलाल (dalāla)
  • Hindustani: dalāl

    Hindi: दलाल

    • → Burmese: ဒလန် (da.lan)
    • → English: dalal, dalaal, Dalal

    Urdu: دَلَال (dalāl)

• → Kannada: ದಲಾಲ (dalāla)
• → Maithili: dalāl

  Tirhuta script: 𑒠𑒪𑒰𑒪

  Devanagari script: दलाल

• → Malayalam: ദല്ലാലി (dallāli)
• → Marathi: दलाल (dalāl)
• → Marwari: दलाल (dalāl)
• → Odia: ଦଲାଲ (dalāla)
• → Old Punjabi: ਦਲਾਲੁ (dalālu)
  • Punjabi: dalāl

    Gurmukhi script: ਦਲਾਲ

    Shahmukhi script: دَلال

• → Sindhi:

  Arabic script: دَلالُ (dalālu)

  Devanagari script: दलालु

• → Tamil: தலால் (talāl)
• → Telugu: దలాలీ (dalālī)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Arabic دَلَال (dalāl).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /da.ˈlaːl/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪ä.lɑːl]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪ä.lɑːl]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [d̪ä.lɑːl]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [d̪ä.lɔːl̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪æ.lɒːl̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪ä.lɔl]

Readings
Classical reading?	dalāl
Dari reading?	dalāl
Iranian reading?	dalâl
Tajik reading?	dalol

Noun

دَلال • (dalâl)

1. coquetry
   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume I, verse 1752:

     من دلش جسته به صد ناز و دلال، او بهانه کرده با من از ملال‌.

     man del-aš joste be sad nâz o dalâl, u bahâne karde bâ man az malâl.

     I sought [to win] His heart with a hundred airs and graces, [but] He made excuses to me in disdain.

Sindhi

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian دَلَّال (dallāl), from Arabic دَلَّال (dallāl, “auctioneer, broker, middleman, agent”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d̪ə.laː.lʊ/, [d̪ə.laːl]

Noun

دَلالُ • (dalālu) m (Devanagari दलालु)

1. broker

Further reading

• Sindhi Language Authority (2025), “دلال”, in Online Sindhi Dictionaries‎^[3]