"ال" meaning in Arabic

{
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Egyptian Arabic",
      "lang_code": "arz",
      "roman": "il-",
      "word": "الـ"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Gulf Arabic",
      "lang_code": "afb",
      "roman": "il-",
      "word": "الـ"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Maltese",
      "lang_code": "mt",
      "word": "il-"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Moroccan Arabic",
      "lang_code": "ary",
      "roman": "el-",
      "word": "الـ"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Persian",
      "lang_code": "fa",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "al-",
      "word": "الـ"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ar",
        "id": "definite article"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "etymon"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ar"
      },
      "expansion": "Uncertain",
      "name": "unc"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ar",
        "2": "أُولَى",
        "t": "these",
        "tr": "ʔulā"
      },
      "expansion": "Arabic أُولَى (ʔulā, “these”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "he",
        "2": "אֵל",
        "t": "these",
        "tr": "el"
      },
      "expansion": "Hebrew אֵל (el, “these”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "akk",
        "2": "ullûm",
        "3": "𒌌𒇻𒌑𒌝",
        "t": "that",
        "tr": "ullûm"
      },
      "expansion": "Akkadian 𒌌𒇻𒌑𒌝 (ullûm, “that”)",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Uncertain; Rubin posits that this is a reduced form of the lost singular of Arabic أُولَى (ʔulā, “these”); compare rare Hebrew אֵל (el, “these”) and Akkadian 𒌌𒇻𒌑𒌝 (ullûm, “that”). In this hypothesis, original initial /u/ would be lost due to low stress; the initial /a/ found in phrase-initial position would thus be prothetic.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "اَلْ",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "al-",
      "tags": [
        "romanization"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "اَمْ",
      "roman": "am",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "dialectal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ar",
        "2": "article",
        "head": "اَلْ"
      },
      "expansion": "اَلْ • (al-)",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Arabic",
  "lang_code": "ar",
  "pos": "article",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Arabic articles",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Arabic entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Arabic terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 13 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "the"
      ],
      "id": "en-ال-ar-article-uXdtfd9F",
      "links": [
        [
          "the",
          "the"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "moon letter"
        },
        {
          "word": "sun letter"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Aaron D. Rubin",
        "Brill"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/al-/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/-l-/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "Ar-ال.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e4/Ar-%D8%A7%D9%84.ogg/Ar-%D8%A7%D9%84.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Ar-%D8%A7%D9%84.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "ال"
}

{
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Egyptian Arabic",
      "lang_code": "arz",
      "roman": "il-",
      "word": "الـ"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Gulf Arabic",
      "lang_code": "afb",
      "roman": "il-",
      "word": "الـ"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Maltese",
      "lang_code": "mt",
      "word": "il-"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Moroccan Arabic",
      "lang_code": "ary",
      "roman": "el-",
      "word": "الـ"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Persian",
      "lang_code": "fa",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "al-",
      "word": "الـ"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ar",
        "id": "definite article"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "etymon"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ar"
      },
      "expansion": "Uncertain",
      "name": "unc"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ar",
        "2": "أُولَى",
        "t": "these",
        "tr": "ʔulā"
      },
      "expansion": "Arabic أُولَى (ʔulā, “these”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "he",
        "2": "אֵל",
        "t": "these",
        "tr": "el"
      },
      "expansion": "Hebrew אֵל (el, “these”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "akk",
        "2": "ullûm",
        "3": "𒌌𒇻𒌑𒌝",
        "t": "that",
        "tr": "ullûm"
      },
      "expansion": "Akkadian 𒌌𒇻𒌑𒌝 (ullûm, “that”)",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Uncertain; Rubin posits that this is a reduced form of the lost singular of Arabic أُولَى (ʔulā, “these”); compare rare Hebrew אֵל (el, “these”) and Akkadian 𒌌𒇻𒌑𒌝 (ullûm, “that”). In this hypothesis, original initial /u/ would be lost due to low stress; the initial /a/ found in phrase-initial position would thus be prothetic.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "اَلْ",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "al-",
      "tags": [
        "romanization"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "اَمْ",
      "roman": "am",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "dialectal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ar",
        "2": "article",
        "head": "اَلْ"
      },
      "expansion": "اَلْ • (al-)",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Arabic",
  "lang_code": "ar",
  "pos": "article",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "moon letter"
    },
    {
      "word": "sun letter"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Arabic articles",
        "Arabic entries with incorrect language header",
        "Arabic lemmas",
        "Arabic terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
        "Arabic terms with unknown etymologies",
        "Pages with 13 entries",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "the"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "the",
          "the"
        ]
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Aaron D. Rubin",
        "Brill"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/al-/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/-l-/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "Ar-ال.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e4/Ar-%D8%A7%D9%84.ogg/Ar-%D8%A7%D9%84.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Ar-%D8%A7%D9%84.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "ال"
}