על

Aramaic

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʕal/

Preposition

על (transliteration needed)

  1. on, upon
  2. over
  3. about, concerning

Hebrew

Etymology

Root
ע־ל־ה (ʿ-l-h)

Cognate to Arabic عَلَى (ʕalā), Ge'ez ላዕለ (laʿlä), Maltese għal.

Pronunciation

Preposition

עַל (al)

  1. (literally) On, on top of.
  2. (figuratively) On.
  3. (with enclitic pronoun and followed by ל־) Must.
    • c. 3rd century, "Aleynu leshabei'ach":
      עָלֵינוּ לְשַׁבֵּחַ לַאֲדוֹן הַכֹּל
      Aleinu l'shabeach la'adon hakol
      We must praise the master of all
      (literally, “It is upon us to praise the master of all”)

Usage notes

  • Various verbs are construed with the preposition על; for example, ויתר על (vitér al) means “to give up on”.

Inflection

Prefix

עַל (ál)

  1. Super-: above; more than; larger than.
    מִשְׁפָּחָה (mishpakhá, family) עַל־מִשְׁפָּחָה (ál-mishpakhá, superfamily)
    יַבֶּשֶׁת (yabéshet, continent) יַבֶּשֶׁת־עַל (yabéshet-ál, supercontinent)
    טִבְעִי (tiv'í, natural) עַל־טִבְעִי (ál-tiv'í, supernatural)

Usage notes

  • Typically used to form calques from English and other languages.
  • Sometimes attached to the following word via a hyphen; otherwise, separated by a space.
  • In some compounds, follows the base word as a suffix rather than preceding it as a prefix.

Antonyms

  • (super-): תת־ (tát-, sub-)

Suffix

עַל (ál)

  1. Alternative form of the prefix; see above.
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