قَتْل murder in Arabic
قَتْل is how you say “murder” in Arabic.
Root ق ت ل q-t-l. noun (verbal noun / maṣdar). qatl.
Arabic
English
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Meaning of murder in Arabic
- killing, slaying, murder the verbal noun (maṣdar) of the form I verb قَتَلَ 'he killed'; forms the plural قُتُول
- thorough, exhaustive knowledge of a thing a rare figurative extension, in phrases like قَتَلَهُ عِلْمًا / خُبْرًا 'he knew it completely' — not the ordinary sense
Example sentence
ثمَّ اجْتمع رَأْيهمْ على الْقَتْل
Then they agreed upon murder.
القَتْلِ murder
In the genitive after 'upon', definite — killing him. The fatal resolution.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
قَتْل is the maṣdar of قَتَلَ, naming the act of killing, slaying, or murder; from it comes the plural قُتُول. Related forms extend the root toward combat (قَاتَلَ, 'to fight') and toward courting death (اِسْتَقْتَلَ, مُسْتَقْتِلٌ). Lexicographers also record a distinct, rarer figurative use of قَتَلَ with عِلْمًا or خُبْرًا, meaning 'to know something thoroughly' — a separate, tropical sense unrelated to killing.
Words from the same root
- قَتَلَ to kill, slay (form I verb; قَتْل is its verbal noun)
- قَاتَلَ to fight, contend with someone in battle (form III)
- اِسْتَقْتَلَ to court death, resign oneself to slaughter, care nothing for dying (form X)
- قَتَّالٌ murderous, very deadly (intensive adjective, e.g. of a serpent)
- قَاتِلٌ deadly, killing (active participle; said of poison or a tree)
- مَقْتَلٌ a vital spot where a wound proves fatal (pl. مَقَاتِل)
- مُسْتَقْتِلٌ one who courts death, indifferent to being killed
More example sentences
فَمِنْ ذَلِكَ قَوْلُهُمْ الْقَتْلُ أَنْفَى لِلْقَتْلِ، مَذْكُورٌ فِي قَوْلِهِ وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقِصَاصِ حَيَاةٌ
Among them their saying: 'Killing prevents killing' is mentioned in His saying: 'And there is for you in legal retribution [saving of] life.'
الْقَتْلُ killing
This is 'the killing', definite with 'al-', here the subject of a verbless saying. With no verb 'is', it simply pairs with the description that follows to mean 'killing is more...'. It takes the nominative as that subject.
فَذَكَرَ مِنْهَا الشِّرْكَ بِاللَّهِ، وَالسِّحْرَ، وَقَتْلَ النَّفْسِ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ، وَأَكْلَ مَالِ الْيَتِيمِ، وَأَكْلَ الرِّبَا، وَالتَّوَلِّيَ يَوْمَ الزَّحْفِ، وَقَذْفَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ الْغَافِلَاتِ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيْهِ
He mentioned among them: associating partners with Allah, sorcery, unjust killing, consuming the wealth of an orphan, usury, fleeing from the battlefield, and falsely accusing chaste, unaware, believing women - agreed upon by scholars.
وَقَتْلَ and killing
A fused 'and' plus a noun, 'and the killing', the head of an 'X of Y' chain, 'the killing of the soul'. It is another listed object and owns the noun that follows.
مِمَّا فِيهِ حَدٌّ فِي الدُّنْيَا كَالْقَتْلِ وَالزِّنَا وَالسَّرِقَةِ،
which have prescribed punishment in this world, such as killing, fornication, and theft,
الْقَتْلِ the killing
A noun with 'the', 'the killing', the first example, held in the (genitive) form by the 'like' before it. It heads the sample list.
وقال عليه الصلاة والسلام إن لله عبادا يضن بهم عن القتل والسقم،
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Indeed, God has servants who He spares from killing and illness.
الْقَتْلِ the killing
A noun with 'the', 'the killing', held in the (genitive) form by the 'from' before it. It names one harm they are spared.
Common questions
- How do you say "murder" in Arabic?
- قَتْل (qatl) — the verbal noun for killing or slaying, from the root ق ت ل.
- What is the difference between قَتَلَ and قَاتَلَ?
- قَتَلَ (qatala, form I) means 'he killed,' while قَاتَلَ (qātala, form III) means 'he fought or did battle with' someone — the contending/reciprocal sense of the same root.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).