Learn Arabic › B2 › خال
خال
maternal uncle (mother's brother) /ˈxaːl/
nounB2#3415 most common
Also: mole (a beauty mark on the skin), an informal address term for an older man or stranger
Example sentences
هذا خالي.
This is my uncle.
خالي كريم جداً.
My uncle is very generous.
زارنا خالي أمس مع أولاده.
My uncle visited us yesterday with his children.
يا خال، هل يمكن أن تساعدني؟
Sir, can you help me?
أخوالي جميعاً يعيشون في نفس المدينة التي وُلد فيها جدي.
All my maternal uncles live in the same city where my grandfather was born.
على الرغم من أن ابن الخال أقرب اجتماعياً من ابن العم في بعض الثقافات، فإن أحكام الميراث في الشريعة الإسلامية تفرق بينهما بدقة.
Although the maternal cousin is socially closer than the paternal cousin in some cultures, Islamic inheritance law distinguishes between them precisely.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | خالٌ | أخوالٌ |
| Genitive | خالٍ | أخوالٍ |
| Accusative | خالاً | أخوالاً |
| Vocative | يا خالُ | يا أخوالُ |
Word family
خالةmaternal aunt
أخوالmaternal uncles (plural)
ابن الخالmaternal cousin, son of one's maternal uncle
خؤولةthe kinship of being a maternal uncle
خوّلto grant, authorize, entrust
Etymology
خال comes from the Semitic root خ-و-ل, the same root behind خالة, maternal aunt, and the verb خوّل, to grant authority or entrust someone with a task. The middle radical و shifts to ا because it follows a short a vowel, a regular sound change in Arabic called إعلال. Arabic is a Semitic language, so it has no Indo-European root to trace.
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