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.
Mohammad's father, Alif, remembered walking through the hospital corridors hours later, wondering if his only son was alive.
From BBC • Oct. 4, 2022
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
It's the particular alchemy G. Willow Wilson brings to them in Alif the Unseen, an amazing novel about a young hacker in an unnamed Emirate who runs afoul of state security services that matters.
From Slate • Nov. 27, 2012
The publication of the first volume of Captain Burton's translation of the Alif Laïla enriches the world of Oriental investigation with a monument of labour and scholarship and of research.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 16 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
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.
