إلا

العربية

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إلا

Where it comes from

Cognate with Ge'ez አላ (ʾälla), Hebrew אֶלָּא (ʾellā). Equivalent to إِنْ (ʔin, “if”) + لَا (lā, “no, not”).

conjunction إِلَّا · ʔillā

in affirmatives and rhetorical questions except (for), save (for), but (for), barring; other than, besides, apart from رَأَيْتُهُمْ جَمِيعًا إِلّا إِيَّاكَ.
in negatives no more than; nothing more than; nothing but or no one but; only, but الصِّحَّةُ تَاجٌ عَلَى رُؤُوسِ الْأَصِحَّاءِ لَا يَرَاهُ إِلَّا الْمَرْضَى.

preposition إِلَّا · ʔillā

rare, in affirmatives and rhetorical questions except (for), save (for), but (for), barring; other than, besides, apart from مولاي إني ببابك قد بسطت يدي من لي ألوذ به إلاك يا سندي
rare, in negatives no more than; nothing more than; nothing but or no one but; only, but

In English

but except
except introducing a noun or noun phrase forming an exception or qualification
unless except on a specified condition
besides other than; except for
barring excepting

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Cite this

MLA

"إلا." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%A5%D9%84%D8%A7. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

إلا. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%A5%D9%84%D8%A7

Chicago

"إلا." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%A5%D9%84%D8%A7.

BibTeX

@misc{micwyn_2026,
  title = {إلا},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%A5%D9%84%D8%A7},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}