Word of the Day, Issue #034

high = عَالٍ

عَالٍ is the active participle of the verb عَلا (imperfect: يَعْلُو , verbal noun: عُلُوٌّ ), meaning to be high, lofty; as it is from a defective verb, the active participle عَالٍ is a defective noun (i.e. اِسْمٌ مَنْقُوصٌ ), meaning high, lofty. It has the same meaning as عَلِيٌّ , which is from the same root. However, as the latter is what we might call a proper adjective (i.e. اِسْمٌ مُشَبَّهٌ بِاسْمِ الْفَاعِل literally a word resembling (in its meaning) the active participle), it tends to denote a more permanent state of affairs, and so is more often used in reference to a rank or condition, whereas عَالٍ would be more appropriate for a more transient ‘highness’. The feminine of عَالٍ is عَالِيَة , which is also used as a girl’s name. Note that this should not be confused with عَلْيَاءُ a high place, which again is used as a girl’s name in the Arab world, but not in the subcontinent (and as such is usually mispronounced as عَالِيَة there). Finally, this latter should itself not be confused with عُلْيَى , which is the feminine of the elative أَعْلَى higher/highest