الا illā H s. m. A wart.

اتقیا atḳiyā A s. plur. (of تقي) Religious men, de- votees.

آله āla A s. m. Same as آلت ālat, q. v.

اضطرار iẓt̤irār A (inf. viii. of ضرّ) s. m. Violence, compulsion, constraint; agitation, perturbation.

ادهکاري अधिकारी adhikār-ī S adj. Posses- sing a right or title to. s. m. A proprietor, one invested with power and authority.

اڙاک uṛāk S̱. (from اڙنا uṛnā) adj. Capable of flying, fledge.

اسفنج isfanj G (spoggos) s. m. A sponge; a yeast dumpling.

اٿاري aṭā-rī S̱. s. f. A thatched upper room.

آپ آپ āp āp S̱. s. Selfishness, egotism.

ا Alif is the first letter of the Arabic and Persian alphabets. At the beginning of Hindī words, denoted by the characters of these alphabets, ا with the vowel fatḥa, written or more commonly understood, represents the Devanāgari letter अ a; with kasr, the letter इ i; with ẓamm, the letter ऊ u; and with the sign madda ي, the letter आ ā: at the beginning of Hindī words, moreover, when ا is followed immediately by ي, the two letters together, according to the vowel written or understood with ا, stand for ई ī ए e or ऐ ai; and when ا is followed in like manner by و, these two letters together represent, according to the vowel used with ا, either ऊ ū ओ o or औ au; but, in the middle or at the end of such words, ا stands invariably for आ ā, In the representation of numbers by the Arabic letters, ا stands for one; whence it is used also as a symbol of the deity: it signifies, moreover, the first day of the week, or Sunday; and, in astronomical descriptions, the sign Taurus of the Zodiack. From its form, too, this letter is adopted to denote straightness; hence, also, a brave man. And, in allusion to its simple, unadorned, figure, it is sometimes used to mean naked.