كبّر
Kabbara
To proclaim, in the prayer or otherwise, that God is the Greater: to say Allāhu akbar.
What it means
Kabbara means to declare God’s greatness by saying Allāhu akbar, “God is the Greater”. The noun is takbīr. The Quran commands: “Your Lord, magnify Him” (74:3), and “Magnify Him with a great magnification” (17:111). Faruqi defines the verb as proclaiming, within worship or outside it, that God is the Greater. The takbīr opens the ritual prayer, marks movements within it, and is called in the adhān. Muslims also say it at the festival prayers of ʿĪd, during the days of the pilgrimage, and in daily life when they see something wonderful or meet a difficulty. It reminds the speaker that God is greater than every worldly thing.
Often misunderstood as
It is often presented in the media as a battle cry, whereas Muslims say it in prayer, at festivals and in everyday life.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 44, listed as KABBARA. The definition is restated here.