ليل

Algerian Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic لَيْل (layl), from Proto-Semitic *laylay- (night).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /liːl/

Noun

ليل (līlm (plural ليالي (lyāli))

  1. nighttime, night
    Antonym: نهار (nhār)

Arabic

Etymology

From the root ل ي ل (l y l). From Proto-Semitic *layl-.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lajl/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

لَيْل • (laylm (usually uncountable)

  1. nighttime, night
    Antonym: نَهَار (nahār)
  2. (countable, obsolete) chick of a bustard (حُبَارَى (ḥubārā)) and/or curlew (كَرَوَان (karawān))
  3. (countable, obsolete) bustard hen; bustard in general

Declension

Declension of noun لَيْل (layl)
singular basic singular triptote
indefinite definite construct
informal لَيْل
layl
اللَّيْل
al-layl
لَيْل
layl
nominative لَيْلٌ
laylun
اللَّيْلُ
al-laylu
لَيْلُ
laylu
accusative لَيْلًا
laylan
اللَّيْلَ
al-layla
لَيْلَ
layla
genitive لَيْلٍ
laylin
اللَّيْلِ
al-layli
لَيْلِ
layli

Derived terms

References

  • Wehr, Hans (1979) “ليل”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Egyptian Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic لَيْل (layl).

Noun

ليل • (lēlm (collective, singulative ليلة f (lēla), plural ليالي (layāli))

  1. nighttime, night
    الدنيا بقت ليلid-dinya baʕit lēlNight came (literally, “it became night”)
    الليلة ديil-lēla ditonight (literally, “this night”)

Etymology 2

Denominalization of ليل (lēl, nighttime).

Verb

ليّل • (layyil) II (active participle مليل (milayyil))

  1. (impersonal) to become night
    الدنيا ليّلتid-dinya layyilitNight came
Conjugation
Conjugation of ليل
singular plural
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
past m ليّلت (layyilt) ليّلت (layyilt) ليّل (layyil) ليّلنا (layyilna) ليّلتوا (layyiltu) ليّلوا (layyilu)
f ليّلتي (layyilti) ليّلت (layyilit)
present subjunctive m اليّل (alayyil) تليّل (tilayyil) يليّل (yilayyil) نليّل (nilayyil) تليّلوا (tilayyilu) يليّلوا (yilayyilu)
f تليّلي (tilayyili) تليّل (tilayyil)
present indicative m بليّل (balayyil) بتليّل (bitlayyil) بيليّل (biylayyil) بنليّل (binlayyil) بتليّلوا (bitlayyilu) بيليّلوا (biylayyilu)
f بتليّلي (bitlayyili) بتليّل (bitlayyil)
future1 m هليّل (halayyil) هتليّل (hatlayyil) هيليّل (haylayyil) هنليّل (hanlayyil) هتليّلوا (hatlayyilu) هيليّلوا (haylayyilu)
f هتليّلي (hatlayyili) هتليّل (hatlayyil)
imperative m ليّل (layyil) ليّلوا (layyilu)
f ليّلي (layyili)

1 The future tense can be prefixed with either هـ (ha-) or حـ (ḥa-) depending on the speaker.

See also

  • بالليل (billēl, at night)
  • الليلادي (illilādi, tonight)
  • نهار (nahār, daytime)
  • يوم (yōm, day)
  • صبح (ṣubḥ, morning)

Hijazi Arabic

Root
ل ي ل
1 term

Etymology 1

From Arabic لَيْل (layl).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈleːl/, [ˈle̞ːl]

Noun

ليل • (lēlm (collective, singulative ليلة f (lēla), plural ليالي (layāli))

  1. nighttime, night

Etymology 2

From French Lille.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈliːl/

Proper noun

ليل • (līlf

  1. Lille (a city in France)

Moroccan Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic لَيْل (layl).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lajl/, /liːl/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

لَيْل or لِيل • (layl or līlm (plural ليالي (lyāli))

  1. nighttime, night
Derived terms
  • ليل ونهار (layl u nhār, līl u nhar, all day long)

Etymology 2

From Arabic لِ (li). The final -l may be due to backformation from the personal forms, themselves derived by reduplication. Compare Maltese lil (to, with).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /liːl/

Preposition

ليل • (līl)

  1. for
    Synonym: ل (li)
Inflection
Inflection of ليل
base form ليل (līl)
Personal-pronoun including forms
singular plural
m f
1st person ليلي (līli) ليلنا (līlna)
2nd person ليلك (līlek) ليلك (līlki) ليلكم (līlkum)
3rd person ليله (līlu) ليلها (līlha) ليلهم (līlhum)

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic لَيْل (layl).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /leːl/, [leːl]
  • Audio (Amman):(file)

Noun

ليل • (lēlm (collective, singulative ليلة f (lēle), plural ليالي (layāli))

  1. night, nighttime
    Antonym: نهار (nhār)
    نصّ الليلnoṣṣ il-lēlmidnight
    Audio (Ramallah):(file)

See also

times of day: أوقات النهار (ʔawʔāt in-nhār)edit