Arabic word sheet
أَوَّلُ
First
- Type
- adjective
- Root
- ء و ل
Meaning and usage
First
That comes before all the others in an order, a rank or a series. Said of people and of things alike.
سَامِي أَوَّلُ طَالِبٍ فِي الصَّفِّ.
Sami is the first student in the class.
Former, of earlier times
That came before, that belongs to a past time. Said in particular of the people of earlier generations.
الْأَوَّلُونَ سَكَنُوا هذِهِ الْقَرْيَةَ.
The people of earlier times lived in this village.
The beginning
The part with which a thing starts: the beginning of a book, of a day, of a piece of work.
قَرَأَتْ لَيْلَى أَوَّلَ الْكِتَابِ.
Layla read the beginning of the book.
Word family
What the root means ء و ل
The root is linked to the idea of getting ahead, of arriving before the others. From it come what is first, the one who is first, and the fact of coming before.
first (of a feminine noun)
أُولَى
precedence, priority
أَوَّلِيَّةٌ
Synonyms
preceding, earlier
مُتَقَدِّمٌ
It only says that one thing comes ahead of another, without its being the very first.
previous, former
سَابِقٌ
It names what comes just before something else, or the one who gets ahead in a race, not the first of a series.
Opposites
last
آخِرٌ