Allah

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The Islamic name for the one supreme God, worshipped by Muslims as the creator and sustainer of the universe
2. The singular monotheistic deity revered in Islam as the all-powerful creator and sustainer of all existence
3. The one supreme God in Islamic faith, understood as the ultimate source of all creation and divine authority

Etymology: Arabic speakers did not coin "Allah" as a name for the Muslim God. The word is a contraction of "al-", meaning "the", and "ilah", meaning "deity", so it literally means "the deity" or "the god." That same root appears across the Semitic languages: Aramaic has "aláh" and Hebrew has "El" and "Elohim," all reaching back to a Proto-Semitic form "*ʔil-." The Arabic word was therefore in use long before Islam, and Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews used it for God in exactly the same way Muslims do today. What makes the word distinctive is its grammar rather than its meaning. The definite article "al-" fused with "ilah" so tightly that the result became a proper name, with the sense of "the one God" rather than just "a god." Compare the Hebrew "Elohim," which is a plural form, while "Allah" remained singular, a difference that reflects Islam's insistence on one divine being.

Synonyms: God