sun letter
noun Arabic Grammar.
any letter, as tā or sīn, representing a consonant that assimilates the l of a prefixed definite article.
Compare moon letter.
Origin of sun letter
translation of Arabic al-hurūf ash-shamsīyah, so called from the use of ash-shams “the sun” to illustrate assimilation of l to sh in al “the”
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019