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.
Line after line, an entire page was filled with the letter alif.
From "Amal Unbound" by Aisha Saeed
At the centre of the cloth is a single Arabic word, intricately woven, four letters: an alif, two lams and a ha.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Yes, and a single alif were the clue— Could you but find it—to the treasure house, And, peradventure, to THE MASTER, too.
From The Light of Egypt; or, the science of the soul and the stars — Volume 2 by Burgoyne, Thomas H.
Note the alif i wasls in lines 1 and 2.
From The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam by Khayyam, Omar
C. L. N. A. B. I. Musa and 'Isa are often written without the alif i maksur.
From The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam by Khayyam, Omar
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.
