لعل

Arabic

Etymology 1

Univerbation of لَـ (la-, truly, indeed, verily) and عَلَّ (ʕalla).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /la.ʕal.la/

Particle

لَعَلَّ • (laʕalla)

  1. hopefully
  2. in order, so that
    • 7th century CE, The Quran[1]:
      ثُمَّ بَعَثْنَاكُم مِن بَعْدِ مَوْتِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
      ṯumma baʕaṯnākum min baʕdi mawtikum laʕallakum taškurūna
      But We raised you again after you had been as dead, so that you might have cause to be grateful.
  3. perhaps, maybe
Usage notes
  • لَعَلَّ (laʕalla) functions like إِنَّ (ʔinna) and أَنَّ (ʔanna), shifting the subject of the clause to the accusative case. The subject of the clause must immediately follow لَعَلَّ (laʕalla); if it is a pronoun, it must be expressed.
  • Unlike لِ (li), لِكَي (likay), and حَتَّى (ḥattā), لَعَلَّ (laʕalla) places its subordinate verb in the indicative mood, even when used to mean "in order," "so that."
Inflection
Inflected forms
base form لَعَلَّ (laʕalla)
Personal-pronoun including forms
singular dual plural
m f m f
1st person لَعَلِّي (laʕallī) لَعَلَّنَا (laʕallanā)
2nd person لَعَلَّكَ (laʕallaka) لَعَلَّكِ (laʕallaki) لَعَلَّكُمَا (laʕallakumā) لَعَلَّكُمْ (laʕallakum) لَعَلَّكُنَّ (laʕallakunna)
3rd person لَعَلَّهُ (laʕallahu) لَعَلَّهَا (laʕallahā) لَعَلَّهُمَا (laʕallahumā) لَعَلَّهُمْ (laʕallahum) لَعَلَّهُنَّ (laʕallahunna)
Alternative forms
See also

Etymology 2

From Persian لال (lâl).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /laʕl/

Noun

لَعْل • (laʕlm

  1. a red gemstone, cornelian, garnet, spinel, tourmaline
Declension
Declension of noun لَعْل (laʕl)
singular basic singular triptote
indefinite definite construct
informal لَعْل
laʕl
اللَّعْل
al-laʕl
لَعْل
laʕl
nominative لَعْلٌ
laʕlun
اللَّعْلُ
al-laʕlu
لَعْلُ
laʕlu
accusative لَعْلًا
laʕlan
اللَّعْلَ
al-laʕla
لَعْلَ
laʕla
genitive لَعْلٍ
laʕlin
اللَّعْلِ
al-laʕli
لَعْلِ
laʕli
Derived terms
  • لَعْلِيّ (laʕliyy)
Descendants
  • Azerbaijani: ləl
  • Persian: لعل (la'l)
  • Kazakh: лағыл (lağyl)
  • Kyrgyz: лаал (laal)
  • Tajik: лаъл (la'l)
  • Uzbek: laʼl

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic لَعْل (laʕl), from Persian لال (lâl).

Pronunciation

 

Readings
Classical reading? la'l
Dari reading? la'l
Iranian reading? la'l
Tajik reading? la'l

Noun

لعل • (la'l)

  1. red gemstone; ruby, spinel, garnet
    Synonym: یاقوت (yâqut)
  2. (poetic, figurative) the beautiful lips of the beloved
    • c. 1520, Selim I of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Benedek Péri, The Persian Dīvān of Yavuz Sulṭān Selīm, Budapest, Hungary: Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, →ISBN, page 131:
      خامه مژگان سلیمی ساز پر شنگرف اشک
      زان که وصف لعل آن شیرین دهن خواهم نوشت
      xāma-yi mužagān-i salīmī sāz pur-i šangarf-i ašk
      z-ān ki wasf-i la'l-i ān šīrīn dahan xwāham niwišt
      Make the brush of Selim's eyelashes full of the red ink of tears [red from eyes bloodshot due to weeping]
      For I will write descriptions of the ruby [metaphor: lips as red as rubies] of her sweet mouth.
      (Classical Persian transliteration)
  3. (poetic, figurative) red wine

Derived terms

  • لعلی (la'li, ruby-red)