Arabic vocabulary
قَتْلmurder in Arabic
قَتْل is how you say “murder” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in real example sentences from classical texts below.
Root ق ت ل (q-t-l)noun (verbal noun / maṣdar)Pronounced qatl
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
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
- قَتَلَto kill, slay (form I verb; قَتْل is its verbal noun)
- قَاتَلَto fight, contend with someone in battle (form III)
- اِسْتَقْتَلَto court death, resign oneself to slaughter, care nothing for dying (form X)
- قَتَّالٌmurderous, very deadly (intensive adjective, e.g. of a serpent)
- قَاتِلٌdeadly, killing (active participle; said of poison or a tree)
- مَقْتَلٌa vital spot where a wound proves fatal (pl. مَقَاتِل)
- مُسْتَقْتِلٌone who courts death, indifferent to being killed
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.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
ثمَّ اجْتمع رَأْيهمْ على الْقَتْل
Then they agreed upon murder.
القَتْلِ — murder. In the genitive after 'upon', definite — killing him. The fatal resolution.
From: The Night of the Migration →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.
From: When Scripture Answers Proverbs →فَذَكَرَ
Related words
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