Arabic word sheet
أَهْلٌ
Family, kin
- Type
- noun
- Root
- ء ه ل
Meaning and usage
Family, kin
The people who make up someone’s household and his near relations: spouse, children, kin. It is always said in relation to a person: so-and-so’s family.
زَارَ سَامِي أَهْلَهُ فِي الْعُطْلَةِ.
Sami visited his family during the holidays.
People of a place
Those who live in a house, a village, a town or a country: the people of the place.
أَهْلُ الْقَرْيَةِ يَعْرِفُونَ الطَّرِيقَ.
The people of the village know the way.
People of a craft or a field
Followed by the name of a craft, an art or a field of knowledge, it means those who practise it or who know it well.
سَأَلَتْ لَيْلَى أَهْلَ الْخِبْرَةِ عَنِ السَّيَّارَةِ.
Layla asked the people of experience about the car.
Worthy of, fit for
Said of a person who deserves a thing or has what it takes for it: worthy of an honour, equal to a task.
رَامِي أَهْلٌ لِهَذِهِ الْوَظِيفَةِ.
Rami is fit for this job.
Plural
أَهَالٍ / أَهْلُونَ
Word family
What the root means ء ه ل
The root is about a place having its people: being lived in, and being at ease among those one lives with. The headword names those people, household, kin or inhabitants; the related verbs speak of founding a household by marrying and of feeling at ease with someone.
to marry, to found a household
تَأَهَّلَ
to feel at ease (with someone)
أَهِلَ
Synonyms
house, family (of a notable)
آلٌ
It is said mostly of the house of a prominent person, with those who follow him, and never of the inhabitants of a place.
family
أُسْرَةٌ
It matches the sense “family” only: the close circle of parents and children; it is the usual word today.