Arabic vocabulary
عَلِقَattach in Arabic
عَلِقَ is how you say “attach” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in a real example sentence from classical texts below.
Root ع ل ق (ʿ-l-q)verb (form I)Pronounced ʿaliqa
Meaning of attach in Arabic
- to hang, cling, or stick fast to something — the primary physical sense, e.g. thorns catching on a garment
- to become caught, entangled, or held fast — said of an animal snared and unable to get loose
- to fall in love with, become attached to someone
- to begin, set about doing something
Construed with بِ (to cling to something), ʿaliqa spans a literal sense — thorns catching on cloth, an animal caught in a snare — through to the figurative sense of falling in love or becoming emotionally attached, where it is used interchangeably with taʿallaqa and iʿtalaqa.
Words from the same root
- تَعَلَّقَto become attached, cling to, fall in love with (used interchangeably with ʿaliqa in the love sense)
- إِعْتَلَقَto become attached or cling to; a near-synonym of taʿallaqa
- علّقهُto make attached; in the passive, to be made to fall in love or become enamoured
- عَلَاقَةٌan attachment or bond, as in the 'bond of love'
- عُلُوقٌverbal noun for becoming caught, entangled, or clinging fast
- عَلَقٌverbal noun of ʿaliqa: a clinging or attaching
Common questions
- How do you say "attach" in Arabic?
- عَلِقَ (ʿaliqa).
- What is the core meaning of the root ع ل ق?
- The root carries the sense of hanging, clinging, or becoming attached to something, whether literally (like thorns on cloth) or figuratively (like falling in love).
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
إِذا علقت شروش الْمعرفَة فِي أَرض الْقلب نَبتَت فِيهِ شَجَرَة الْمحبَّة،
When the roots of knowledge take hold in the soil of the heart, the tree of love grows there.
عَلِقَتْ — take hold. Past-tense verb 'clung, took hold'; the '-at' ending marks the feminine subject (the roots).
From: Knowledge, Reverence, Obedience →
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