Learn Arabic › B2 › عَقَل
عَقَل
to understand, to comprehend /ˈʕa.qa.la/
verbB2#3638 most common
Also: to reason, to be sensible, to restrain (classical: to hobble a camel)
Example sentences
الطفل الصغير لا يَعقِل بعد.
The small child does not understand yet.
هل تَعقِل ما أقوله لك؟
Do you understand what I am telling you?
يجب أن تَعقِل قبل أن تتصرف بهذه الطريقة.
You must think it through before you act this way.
عَقَلَ الرجل الحكيم كل كلمة سمعها من شيخه.
The wise man grasped every word he heard from his teacher.
لا يُعقَل أن يوافق أحد على هذا الشرط.
It makes no sense that anyone would agree to this condition.
ما عَقَلوا خطورة الموقف إلا بعد فوات الأوان.
They did not grasp the gravity of the situation until it was too late.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَعْقِلُ | عَقَلْتُ | سَأَعْقِلُ |
| 2sg | تَعْقِلُ | عَقَلْتَ | سَتَعْقِلُ |
| 3sg | يَعْقِلُ | عَقَلَ | سَيَعْقِلُ |
| 1pl | نَعْقِلُ | عَقَلْنَا | سَنَعْقِلُ |
| 2pl | تَعْقِلُونَ | عَقَلْتُمْ | سَتَعْقِلُونَ |
| 3pl | يَعْقِلُونَ | عَقَلُوا | سَيَعْقِلُونَ |
Word family
عَقْل (ʿaql)mind, intellect, reason
عَاقِل (ʿāqil)sane, rational, sensible
مَعْقُول (maʿqūl)reasonable, logical
عَقْلَانِي (ʿaqlānī)rational, rationalist
عِقَال (ʿiqāl)camel hobble; cord worn over a headdress
Etymology
The verb comes from the Semitic triliteral root ع-ق-ل (ʿ-q-l), whose core sense is to bind or restrain. In pre-Islamic Arabic this root named the rope used to hobble a camel's leg so it would not wander off. The meaning later shifted metaphorically: to reason is to bind or restrain one's thoughts and impulses, and from this the noun for mind or intellect developed.
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