ذلیل

See also: ذليل

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic ذَلِيل (ḏalīl, “servile; despicable, low”).

Adjective

ذلیل • (zelil)

1. vile, base, mean, low, contemptible, despicable, abject, fit or deserving to be despised, morally reprehensible

   Synonyms: آلچاق (alçak), رذیل (rezil), موخانات (muhanat)

2. servile, submissive, abject, slavish, wormy, meekly obedient or passive, ready to conform to the will of others

Descendants

• Turkish: zelil

Further reading

click to expand

• Barbier de Meynard, Charles (1886), “ذلیل”, in Dictionnaire turc-français, volume II, Paris: E. Leroux, page 4
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “zelil”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 5450
• Devellioğlu, Ferit (1962), “zelîl”, in Osmanlıca-Türkçe Ansiklopedik Lûgat‎ [Ottoman–Turkish Encyclopedic Dictionary]‎^[1] (in Turkish), Istanbul: Türk Dil Kurumu, page 1415
• Kélékian, Diran (1911), “ذلیل”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[2] (in French), Constantinople: Mihran, page 605
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687), “Abjectus”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎^[3], Vienna, column 4
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680), “ذلیل”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎^[4], Vienna, column 2240
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “zelil”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “ذلیل”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[5], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 948

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic ذَلِيل (ḏalīl).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ða.ˈliːl/, /za.ˈliːl/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [zä.líːl]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [zä.líːl]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [zä.líːl]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [zä.líl̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [zæ.líːl̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [zä.líl]

• Rhymes: -iːl

Readings
Classical reading?	ḏalīl, zalīl
Dari reading?	zalīl
Iranian reading?	zalil
Tajik reading?	zalil

Adjective

Dari	ذلیل
Iranian Persian
Tajik	залил

ذلیل • (zalil)

1. humiliated; dishonored; contemptible
2. weak
3. despicable
4. insulting

Descendants

• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: ज़लील (zalīl)

  Urdu: ذَلِیل (zalīl)

• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਜ਼ਲੀਲ (zalīl)

  Shahmukhi script: ذلیل (zalīl)

Urdu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic ذَلِيل (ḏalīl)

Classical Persian ذلیل (zalīl)bor.

Urdu ذلیل

Borrowed from Classical Persian ذلیل (zalīl), from Arabic ذَلِيل (ḏalīl). Compare Punjabi ذليل / ਜ਼ਲੀਲ (zalīl).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /zə.liːl/
• Rhymes: -iːl
• Hyphenation: ذَ‧لِیل

Adjective

ذَلِیل • (zalīl) (indeclinable, Hindi spelling ज़लील)

1. humiliated; dishonoured
2. despicable, insulting

References

• “ذلیل”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “ذلیل”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.