Learn Arabic › B2 › أَلِيف
أَلِيف
companion /ʔaˈliːf/
nounB2#3570 most common
Also: tame animal, pet, close friend, sociable one
Example sentences
هذا الكلب أليف.
This dog is tame.
عندي حيوان أليف في البيت.
I have a pet at home.
هذه الحيوانات الأليفة تحتاج إلى رعاية يومية.
These pets need daily care.
بعد أن عاش بيننا سنوات، صار أليف العائلة.
After living among us for years, he became a companion of the family.
وجد في القراءة أليفا يؤنس وحدته في الليالي الطويلة.
He found in reading a companion that eased his loneliness on long nights.
لم يكن الصمت عدوه بل كان أليفه الذي اعتاد مؤانسته منذ الطفولة.
Silence was not his enemy; it was his companion, whom he had grown used to keeping company since childhood.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | أَلِيفٌ | أُلَفَاءُ |
| Genitive | أَلِيفٍ | أُلَفَاءَ |
| Accusative | أَلِيفًا | أُلَفَاءَ |
| Vocative | يَا أَلِيفُ | يَا أُلَفَاءُ |
Word family
إلف (ilf)intimate friend, close companion
ألفة (ulfah)familiarity, intimacy, harmony
مؤلف (mu'allif)author, composer
تأليف (ta'līf)composition, authorship
ائتلاف (i'tilāf)coalition, alliance
Etymology
أَلِيف comes from the Arabic root ʔ-l-f (أ ل ف), which carries the sense of joining, growing accustomed to, and feeling at ease with someone or something. The verb أَلِفَ means to be familiar with or attached to. أَلِيف is the فَعِيل (fa'īl) adjective-noun pattern built on that root, describing something or someone that has become a settled, comfortable presence.
Learn Arabic the way that sticks.
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,080 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,080 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free