اعلی

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic أَعْلَى (ʔaʕlā).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔaʔ.ˈlɑː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔäʔ.lɑ́ː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔäʔ.lɑ́ː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔɑː.lɑ́ː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔɔː.lɔ́ː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔæʔ.lɒ́ː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔäʔ.lɔ́]

Readings
Classical reading?	a'lā
Dari reading?	a'lā
Iranian reading?	a'lâ
Tajik reading?	aʾlo

Adjective

Dari	اعلی
Iranian Persian
Tajik	аъло

اعلی • (a'lâ)

1. superior

Descendants

• → Hindustani:
  • Hindi: आला (ālā)
  • Urdu: اعلیٰ (a’lá)

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian اَعْلیٰ (a'lā), from Arabic أَعْلَى (ʔaʕlā).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /əʔ.lɑː/, [ɑʔ.lɑː], [ɑː.lɑː]
• Rhymes: -ɑː
• Hyphenation: اَع‧لا

Adjective

اَعْلیٰ • (a'lā) (indeclinable, Hindi spelling आला)

1. greatest; highest
2. supreme, chief
3. dignified; loftiest
4. (slang) great, brilliant; excellent

Further reading

• “اعلی”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “اعلی”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “اعلیٰ”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884) “اعلي”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 61
• John Shakespear (1834) “اعليٰ”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC