قليل

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

• IPA^(key): /qa.liːl/

• Audio:

  (file)

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 lafašiltum 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 quotation)

• 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): /ɡa.liːl/

قليل • (galīl) (feminine قليلة (galīla), common plural قلال (gulāl) or قليلين (galīlīn), elative أقلّ (ʔagall))

1. few, little

   Synonym: شوية (šuwayya)

   Antonym: كثير (katīr)

2. rarely

From Arabic قَلِيل (qalīl).

• IPA^(key): (Urban) /ʔa.liːl/,
• IPA^(key): (Bedouin) /ɡa.liːl/,

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

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

1. few, little

   Synonym: شوي (šwayy)

   Antonym: كتير (ktīr)

2. 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”)