The eighth letter of the alphabet: called دَالٌ. It is one of the letters termed مَجْهُورَة [or vocal, i. e. pronounced with the voice, not with the breath only]; and of the letters termed نِطَعِيَّة [pronounced by pressing the tip of the tongue against the upper gums and suddenly withdrawing it], like ط and ت. (TA.) It is substituted, agreeably with general usage, for the ت of the form اِفْتَعَلَ and its variations, when the first radical letter is ز, as in اِزْدَادَ [for اِزْتَادَ]; or ذ, as in اِدَّكَرَ [for اِذْدَكَرَ, originally اِذْتَكَرَ]; or د, as in اِدَّرَأَ [for اِدْدَرَأَ, originally اِدْتَرَأَ]: and sometimes after ج, as in اِجْدَمَعُوا, a dial. var. of اِجْتَمَعُوا: also, sometimes, for the pronominal affix ت after د, as in جَلَدُّ for جَلَدْتُ; and after ز, as in جُزْدُ for جُزْتُ: it is also substituted for the ت of تَوْلَجٌ, contr. to analogy: and it occurs substituted for ط, contr. to general usage, as in مَرَدَى for مَرَطَى. (MF.)

[As a numeral, it denotes Four.]