Meaning of الـ | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Used in certain unadapted borrowings from Arabic.
2. of; used as the equivalent of the ezâfe to form compound words where at least one of the words is an Arabic borrowing. These compounds often do not exist in Arabic.

Examples

“علیالتحقیق”

certainly, surely

“ابوالهول”

sphinx

“بالکل”

totally, entirely

“بین (beyn, “between”) + الـ (-l-) + ملل (melal, “nations”) + ـی (-i) → بینالمللی (beyno-l-melali, “international”)”

“حق (haqq, “wage, payment”) + الـ (-s-) + سکوت (sokut, “silence”) → حقالسکوت (haqqo-s-sokut, “hush money”)”

“دستور (dastur, “rule, guideline”) + الـ (-l-) + عمل (amal, “action”) → دستورالعمل (dasturo-l-'amal, “written instructions”)”

“مجمع (majma', “assembly”) + الـ (-l-) + جزایر (jazâyer, “islands”) → مجمعالجزایر (majma'o-l-jazâyer, “archipelago”)”

CEFR level