Allah (English)

Where does "Allah" come from?

The English name 'Allah' comes directly from the Arabic 'allāh'[1], which is traditionally understood as a contraction of the definite article 'al-' and 'ʔilah' meaning deity[1]. Alternatively, it is theorized to stem from an ancient variant spelling featuring an emphatic marker[2]. These Arabic forms trace back ultimately to the Proto-Semitic root '*ʾil-'[1][2], reflecting deep historical cognates found in Hebrew as 'él' and Aramaic as 'aláh'[1].

Open questions

• The derivation of the Arabic name is disputed, with theories favoring a contraction of 'al-ilāh' or a variant spelling with an emphatic marker. [2]
• The origin of the Arabic definite article 'al' remains uncertain, with proposals suggesting it derives from a reduced form of a lost singular pronoun. [3]

Full etymology tree

• Allah (English), 'God, in Islamic or Arabic contexts'
  • borrowed الله (allāh) (Arabic), 'God'
    • compound ال (al-) (Arabic), 'the'
      • derived أُولَى (ʔulā) (Arabic)
    • compound إِلَه (ʔilah) (Arabic)
      • inherited *ʾil- (Proto-Semitic)

Ancestors

• *ʔil- (Proto-Semitic)

Cognates and doublets

• אלה (Aramaic)

Descendants and derived words

• alhamdulillah (English)
• Allahabad (English)
• astaghfirullah (English)
• ayatollah (English)
• Baháʼu'lláh (English)
• bismillah (English)
• by the Grace of Allah (English)
• Hezbollah (English)
• inshallah (English)
• mashallah (English)
• wallahi (English)

Sources

1. Allah (English) - Wiktionary
2. الله (allāh) (Arabic) - Wiktionary
3. ال (al-) (Arabic) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris