alif
Americannoun
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the first letter of the Arabic alphabet.
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the glottal stop consonant represented by this letter.
Etymology
Origin of alif
From Arabic; see origin at aleph
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The female twins, named Alif and Raya, were born at Chester Zoo in January but have only just started to explore the outside world.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2023
Alif Akhirul Ramadan, 27, said he was getting oxygen for his 77-year-old grandmother, who was being cared for by family members at home.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 18, 2021
Minarets symbolize the Alif, the first letter in the Arabic alphabet and the first letter in Allah’s name, Spahic said.
From Washington Times • Nov. 14, 2020
The sultan’s mother sends the fugitives off under the care of Vikram the Vampire, a scabrous, shape-shifting djinn who also appears in Alif the Unseen.
From Slate • Mar. 22, 2019
The wheel turns ever, and no pleasure of ours but is built on the shifting sand of some one's pain, even as Alif told me.
From Margarita's Soul The Romantic Recollections of a Man of Fifty by Williams, J. Scott (John Scott)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
