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بَابٌ

Root: بوب

Full Definition

بَابٌ , originally بَوَبٌ, A door; a gate; a place of entrance: and the thing with which a place of entrance, such as a door or gate, is closed; of wood &c.: pl. أَبْوَابٌ and بِيبَانٌ and أَبْوِبَةٌ, [a pl. of pauc., said to be] only used for conformity with another word mentioned therewith, as in the saying , هَتَّاكُ أَخْبِيَةٍ وَ لَّاجُ أَبْوِبَةٍ [A frequent render of tents, a frequent enterer of doors], not being allowable when occurring alone; but IAar and Lh assert that it is a pl. of باب without its being used for conformity with another word; and this is extr.; for باب is of the measure فَعَلٌ, and a word of this measure has not a pl. of the measure أَفْعِلَةٌ [by rule]. You say, بَابٌ الدَّارِ [The door of the house]; and بَابُ البَيْتِ [the door of the house, and of the chamber, and of the tent]; and بَابُ البَلَدِ [the gate of the town or city]. And Bishr Ibn-Abee-Házim assigns a باب to a grave; calling the latter a بَيْت. It is also applied to an opening, or a channel, made for water, to irrigate seed-produce: pl. أَبْوَابٌ. [And in Egypt, it is applied also to A sepulchral chamber, grotto, or cave, hewn in a mountain; from the Coptic βηβ: pl. بِيبَانٌ only.]
2 Hence, i. e. in a secondary application, the primary signification being “ a place of entrance, ” it is used as meaning A means of access, or of attainment, to a thing: as in the saying, هٰذَا العِلْمُ بَابٌ إِلَى عِلْمِ كَذَا This science is a means of attainment to such a science.
3 [And hence, An expedient, a trick, a stratagem, or a process, by which something is to be effected pl. أَبْوَابٌ: as in أَبْوَابُ الحَرْبِ the expedients. &c. of war, battle, or fight; and بَابٌ مِنَ النُّجُومِ a process of the science of the stars, meaning astrology or astronomy; and بَابٌ مِنَ السِّحْرِ a process of enchantment; see an ex. voce سِحْرٌ. Compare Matt. xvi. 18, πύλαι ᾅδου οὐ κατισχύσουσιν αύτης, probably meaning “ the stratagems of Hell shall not prevail against it. ”]
4 [Also A mode, kind, sort, class, or category.] Suweyd Ibn-Kuráa uses metaphorically the pl. أَبْوَاب in relation to rhymes; saying, أَتَيْتُ بِأَبْوَابِ القَوَافِى كَأَنَّمَا أَذُودُ بِهَا سِرْبًا مِنَ الوَحْشِ نُزَّعَا [I gave utterance to the various kinds of rhymes as though I were driving with them a herd of wild animals desirous of the males, or of their wonted places of pasture]. [You say also, هُوَ مِنْ هٰذَا البَابِ It is of this mode, kind, sort, class, or category: a phrase of frequent occurrence in lexicons &c. See also بَابَةٌ.]
5 [Also A chapter; and sometimes a section, or subdivision, of a chapter; of a book or writing;] conventionally, a piece consisting of words relating to matters of one kind; and sometimes, to matters of one species: pl. أَبْوَابٌ. See also بَابَةٌ.
6 [Also A head, or class of items or articles, in an account, or a reckoning; as in the saying,] بَيَّنْتُ لَهُ حِسَابَهُ بَابًا بَابًا [I explained, or made clear, to him his account, or reckoning, head by head, or each class of items or articles by itself]; a phrase mentioned by Sb: [or, sometimes,] بَابٌ and بَابَةٌ are used in relation to حُدُود [which here means the punishments so termed], and to an account, or a reckoning, and the like, as signifying the extreme term or limit; syn. غَايَةٌ; but IDrd hesitated respecting this, and therefore it is not mentioned in the S.


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