Arabic word sheet
تَعَالَى
Come!
- Type
- verb
- Root
- ع ل و
Meaning and usage
Come!
In its form of a call, it is the everyday word for telling someone to come near. It was first said from a high place to someone lower down, then came to be used everywhere.
قَالَتْ لَيْلَى لِأَخِيهَا: تَعَالَ إِلَى الْغَدَاءِ.
Layla said to her brother: come to lunch.
To rise, to go up
To become high, to gain in height or strength. Said of a thing that goes up, of a noise or of voices that swell.
تَعَالَتِ الْأَصْوَاتُ فِي السُّوقِ.
The voices rose in the market.
To hold oneself above
To consider oneself above something or someone, too high for it; also said of one who treats others haughtily.
تَعَالَتِ الْمُدِيرَةُ عَلَى الْمُوَظَّفِينَ.
The manager looked down on the employees.
Word family
What the root means ع ل و
The basic verb means to be high, to rise. This form adds the idea of going up or holding oneself high, and its use as a call, first uttered by someone standing higher, became the ordinary way of saying 'come'; height, eminence and rising above belong to the same family.
to be high, to rise
عَلَا
height, elevation
عُلُوٌّ
eminence, high rank
عَلَاءٌ
to rise above
اِسْتَعْلَى
to rise, to mount
اِعْتَلَى
Synonyms
come, come on
هَلُمَّ
Matches the sense 'come'; a literary word that most often keeps a single form.
to rise
اِرْتَفَعَ
Matches the sense 'to rise'; it is the common, neutral verb, with no shade of looking down on others.
Opposites
to go down, to drop
اِنْخَفَضَ
to be modest
تَوَاضَعَ