Learn Arabic › B2 › خَلِيل
خَلِيل
close friend /xɑˈliːl/
nounB2#4265 most common
Also: intimate friend, beloved, bosom companion
Example sentences
هُوَ خَلِيلِي.
He is my close friend.
خَلِيلِي يَسْكُنُ بِجِوَارِي.
My close friend lives next door to me.
أَحْمَدُ خَلِيلٌ وَفِيٌّ لِأَصْدِقَائِهِ.
Ahmad is a loyal close friend to his friends.
كَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ خَلِيلَ اللهِ.
Abraham was the intimate friend of God.
لَا يُوجَدُ خَلِيلٌ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ الكِتَابِ فِي أَوْقَاتِ الوَحْدَةِ.
There is no truer friend than a book in times of loneliness.
تَغَنَّى الشُّعَرَاءُ العَرَبُ قَدِيمًا بِوَفَاءِ الخَلِيلِ فِي قَصَائِدِهِمْ.
Arab poets of old praised the loyalty of the close friend in their verses.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | خَلِيلٌ | أَخِلَّاءُ |
| Genitive | خَلِيلٍ | أَخِلَّاءَ |
| Accusative | خَلِيلًا | أَخِلَّاءَ |
| Vocative | يَا خَلِيلُ | يَا أَخِلَّاءُ |
Word family
خُلَّة (khulla)intimate friendship, close bond
خَلِيلَة (khalīla)female close friend; in some dialects, girlfriend
أَخِلَّاء (akhillā')close friends (plural)
خُلَّان (khullān)close friends (alternate plural)
خِلَال (khilāl)during, among, interval
Etymology
Khalīl comes from the Semitic root kh-l-l, tied to words like khalal (a gap or interstice) and khilāl (interval, among). Classical Arabic lexicographers explain the word by saying that this kind of love enters the khilāl, the innermost gaps, of the heart. The pattern faʻīl marks a lasting quality, so khalīl names someone bound to you by that deep, settled affection, not a casual acquaintance.
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