قليل

From the root ق ل ل‎ (q-l-l). Related to Aramaic קלל‎.

• IPA^(key): /qa.liːl/

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  • (Hejazi) IPA^(key): [ɡa.liːl]

قَلِيل • (qalīl) (feminine قَلِيلَة‎ (qalīla), masculine plural قَلِيلُون‎ (qalīlūn) or قُلُل‎ (qulul) or أَقِلَّاء‎ (ʔaqillāʔ), feminine plural قَلِيلَات‎ (qalīlāt) or قَلَائِل‎ (qalāʔil), elative أَقَلّ‎ (ʔaqall))

1. few, little
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 8:43:

     ‏إِذْ يُرِيكَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ فِي مَنَامِكَ قَلِيلًاۖ وَلَوْ أَرَاكَهُمْ كَثِيرًا لَّفَشِلْتُمْ وَلَتَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي ٱلْأَمْرِ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ سَلَّمَۗ إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ ٱلصُّدُورِ‎

     ʔiḏ yurīkahumu l-lahu fī manāmika qalīlan walaw ʔarākahum kaṯīran llafašiltum walatanāzaʕtum fī l-ʔamri walākinna l-laha sallama ʔinnahu ʕalīmun biḏāti ṣ-ṣudūri

     When Allah showed them unto thee in thy dream as few, and if he had shown them to thee as many, ye would have dithered and would have made a fuss of the matter, but God kept you safe of it, for he knows how the breasts of the people go.

2. scarce
3. short, thin, paltry, insignificant-looking

• كَثِير‎ (kaṯīr)

قَلِيل • (qalīl) m

1. a few; a little
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 17:85:

     ‏وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الرُّوحِ قُلِ الرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي وَمَا أُوتِيتُم مِنَ الْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا‎‎

     wayasʔalūnaka ʕani r-rūḥi quli r-rūḥu min ʔamri rabbī wamā ʔūtītum mina l-ʕilmi ʔillā qalīlan

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

• قَلَّمَا‎ (qallamā)
• قَلِيلًا‎ (qalīlan)
• قَلِيلًا مَا‎ (qalīlan mā)

• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884), “قليل”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎, London: W.H. Allen
• Wehr, Hans (1979), “قليل”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN
• Баранов, Х. К. (2011), “قليل”, in Большой арабско-русский словарь (Bolʹšoj arabsko-russkij slovarʹ), 11th edition, Москва: Живой язык, →ISBN

From Arabic قَلِيل‎ (qalīl).

• IPA^(key): (Urban) /ʔa.liːl/, [ʔaˈliːl]
• IPA^(key): (Bedouin) /ɡa.liːl/, [ɡaˈliːl]

• Audio (Ramallah)

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قليل • (ʔalīl) (feminine قليلة‎ (ʔalīle), common plural قلال‎ (ʔlāl), elative أقلّ‎ (ʔaʔall))

1. few, little

   Synonym: شوي‎ (šwayy)

   Antonym: كتير‎ (ktīr)

2. (+ ما‎) seldom, rarely

   ‏قليل ما يكون عندي وقت أروح عالنادي.‎‎

   ʔalīl ma ykūn ʕindi waʔt ʔarūḥ ʕan-nādi

   I rarely have time to go to the gym.

   (literally, “Rarely there is at-me time to go to the gym.”)

• عالقليلة‎ (ʕal-ʔalīle, “at least”)