Learn Arabic › B1 › وَلاء
وَلاء
loyalty /waˈlaːʔ/
nounB1#2876 most common
Also: allegiance, fidelity, fealty
Example sentences
وَلاؤُهُ لِوَطَنِهِ كَبِيرٌ.
His loyalty to his homeland is great.
أَنَا أُظْهِرُ وَلائِي لِأَصْدِقَائِي دَائِمًا.
I always show my loyalty to my friends.
يَجِبُ عَلَى المُوَظَّفِ أَنْ يُحَافِظَ عَلَى وَلائِهِ لِلشَّرِكَةِ.
The employee must maintain his loyalty to the company.
أَقْسَمَ الجُنُودُ يَمِينَ الوَلاءِ لِلْمَلِكِ قَبْلَ المَعْرَكَةِ.
The soldiers swore an oath of allegiance to the king before the battle.
تَغَيَّرَ وَلاؤُهُ السِّياسِيُّ بَعْدَ أَنْ خَابَ أَمَلُهُ فِي الحِزْبِ.
His political allegiance changed after he grew disillusioned with the party.
تَتَعَدَّدُ وَلاءَاتُ الفَرْدِ فِي المُجْتَمَعَاتِ الحَدِيثَةِ بَيْنَ الوَطَنِ وَالطَّائِفَةِ وَالعَائِلَةِ، مِمَّا يُثِيرُ تَسَاؤُلَاتٍ حَوْلَ الهُوِيَّةِ.
An individual's loyalties multiply in modern societies among nation, sect, and family, which raises questions about identity.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | وَلاءٌ | وَلاءَاتٌ |
| Genitive | وَلاءٍ | وَلاءَاتٍ |
| Accusative | وَلاءً | وَلاءَاتٍ |
| Vocative | يا وَلاءُ | يا وَلاءَاتُ |
Word family
وَلِيّ (waliy)guardian, patron saint, close friend
مَوْلى (mawlā)patron, master, client or freedman
تَوَلَّى (tawallā)to take charge of, to take as an ally
وِلاية (wilāya)province, governorate, or guardianship
والٍ (wālī)governor, ruler
Etymology
Walā' comes from the Arabic root w-l-y (و-ل-ي), whose base verb waliya means to be near someone or to have charge over them. Cast into the fa'āl noun pattern, walā' turned that sense of nearness into an abstract noun for loyalty or an allied bond. In classical Islamic law, al-walā' also named a specific legal tie between a freed slave and the former master who had freed them. This is a Semitic root, not an Indo-European one, so it has no PIE ancestor.
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