Arabic word sheet
مَالٌ
Property, wealth
- Type
- noun
- Root
- م و ل
Meaning and usage
Property, wealth
Everything a person owns that has value: land, houses, goods, animals, objects. It is the general word for someone’s fortune.
وَرِثَ رَامِي مَالًا كَثِيرًا عَنْ جَدِّهِ.
Rami inherited great wealth from his grandfather.
Money
Originally what one owns in gold and precious metal; hence money, the sums one earns, spends or puts aside.
وَضَعَتْ سَلْمَى مَالَهَا فِي الْمَصْرِفِ.
Salma put her money in the bank.
Herds, livestock
In the old language, among desert people, the word mostly names camels and other herd animals, because these made up most of their wealth.
سَاقَ الرَّاعِي مَالَهُ إِلَى الْمَرْعَى.
The herdsman drove his animals to the pasture.
Plural
أَمْوَالٌ
Word family
What the root means م و ل
In this root everything starts from the noun itself: it has no other idea than the wealth one owns. On this noun are built “to become rich”, “to grow wealthy”, “to provide someone with means” and “what relates to property”.
to provide with means, to finance
مَوَّلَ
to grow wealthy
تَمَوَّلَ
relating to property, financial
مَالِيٌّ
Synonyms
fortune, riches
ثَرْوَةٌ
It is used only of abundant, accumulated riches, whereas the headword names what one owns, be it little or much.