Learn Arabic › A1 › أَعْلَى
أَعْلَى
higher /ˈʔaʕlaː/
adjectiveA1#367 most common
Also: highest, upper, supreme
Example sentences
البيتُ أَعْلَى مِنَ الشجرةِ.
The house is higher than the tree.
هذا هو الجبلُ الأَعْلَى في المنطقةِ.
This is the highest mountain in the area.
حصلَ أخي على أَعْلَى علامةٍ في الصفِّ.
My brother got the highest mark in the class.
تقعُ شقّتُنا في الطابقِ الأَعْلَى من العمارةِ.
Our apartment is on the upper floor of the building.
يطمحُ الكثيرونَ إلى الوصولِ إلى أَعْلَى المناصبِ في الدولةِ.
Many people aspire to reach the highest positions in the state.
كلّما ارتفعَ المرءُ إلى مكانةٍ أَعْلَى ازدادتْ مسؤوليّاتُه ثِقَلًا.
Whenever a person rises to a higher status, his responsibilities grow heavier.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | أَعْلَى | الأَعْلَوْنَ |
| Genitive | أَعْلَى | الأَعْلَيْنَ |
| Accusative | أَعْلَى | الأَعْلَيْنَ |
| Vocative | يا أَعْلَى | يا أَعْلَوْنَ |
Word family
عَلاto rise, ascend, become high
عالٍhigh, tall, elevated
العُلْياhighest, supreme (feminine)
عُلُوّheight, loftiness
عَلِيّhigh, exalted, lofty
Etymology
أَعْلَى is the elative form of the Arabic root ع-ل-و, which carries the idea of height and rising. It is built on the pattern أَفْعَل, used to make comparatives and superlatives, so it means higher or highest. The same root gives عَلا, to rise, and عالٍ, high. Because the root ends in a weak letter, the final radical surfaces as the fixed alif maqṣūra ى, and the word keeps one shape in every case.
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