n.
Among Arab groups, a term denoting a tribe, clan, family, or other patrilineal filiation.
It often refers to a ruling line or dynasty and generally precedes a substantive name (e.g., 0100; l Sa 02BD; 016B; d) but is not connected by a hyphen; it is unrelated to the Arabic definite article, al- . In Britannica Concise Encyclopedia , entries for Arab tribal and dynastic groups are alphabetized under the substantive (e.g., for 0100; l Sa 02BD; 016B; d, see Sa 016B; d dynasty ).