على

العربية · Thesaurus

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على^¹

/ʕa.laː/
[ˈʕɐ.lɑː] Iraq

Sounds like عَلَا (ʕalā) · Rhymes with -aː, -laː

Where it comes from

Inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʕalay-. Cognate with Akkadian 𒌋𒅗 (eli), Hebrew עַל ('al), עֲלֵי ('aléi), Aramaic עַל (ʿal).

preposition عَلَى · ʕalā · عَلَيَّ · عَلَيْنَا

on, over
against يَوْمٌ لَكَ وَيَوْمٌ عَلَيْكَ
expresses obligation وَمَا عَلَى الرَّسُولِ إلَّا الْبَلَاغُ الْمُبِينُ
despite وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَذُو مَغْفِرَةٍ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَى ظُلْمِهِمْ
on condition, provided قَالَ إِنِّي أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُنْكِحَكَ إِحْدَى ٱبْنَتَيَّ هَاتَيْنِ عَلَى أَن تَأْجُرَنِي ثَمَانِيَ حِجَجٍ

Opposite: لِـ

على^²

/ʕa.laː/

Sounds like عَلَا (ʕalā)

verb عَلَى · ʕalā · يَعْلِي · عَلْي · عَالٍ

transitive to climb

على^³

/ʕal.laː/

verb عَلَّى · ʕallā · يُعَلِّي · تَعْلِيَة · مُعَلٍّ

transitive to raise (a building)
transitive to raise, to lift, to elevate (someone/something)
figuratively, transitive to exalt

على^⁴

/ʕu.lan/

adjective عُلًى · ʕulan

feminine, plural, transitive feminine plural of أَعْلَى (ʔaʕlā, “higher, upper; superior”)

Thesaurus

preposition

Opposite: لِـ

In English

above in preference to
on positioned at the upper surface of
to in the direction of, and arriving at
over math: divided by
onto upon; on top of

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Cite this

MLA

"على." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

على. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89

Chicago

"على." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89.

BibTeX

@misc{micwyn_2026,
  title = {على},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}

على