بَيَاضٌ

Full Definition

بَيَاضٌ Whiteness; contr. of سَوَادٌ; in an animal, and in a plant, and in other things; and, accord. to IAar, in water also; the colour of that which is termed أَبْيَضُ: they said بَيَاضٌ and بَيَاضَةٌ , like as they said مَنْزِلٌ and مَنْزِلَةٌ: بَيَاضَةٌ being applied to a whiteness in the eye. You say, هٰذَا أَشَدُّ بَيَاضًا مِنْ كَذَا [This is whiter than such a thing]: but not أَبْيَضُ : the latter is anomalous; [like أَسْوَدُ مِنْهُ; q. v.;] but it was said by the people of El-Koofeh, who adduced as authority the saying of the rájiz, جَارِيَةٌ فِى دِرْعِهَا الفَضْفَاضِ أَبْيَضُ مِنْ أُخْتِ بَنِى إِبَاضِ [A damsel in her ample shift, whiter than the sister of the tribe of Benoo-Ibád]: Mbr, however, says that an anomalous verse is no evidence against a rule commonly approved: and as to the saying of another, إِذَا الرِّجَالُ شَتَوْا وَٱشْتَدَّ أَكْلُهُمُ فَأَنْتَ أَبْيَضُهُمْ سِرْبَالَ طَبَّاخِ [When men experience dearth in winter, and their eating becomes vehement, thou art the whitest of them, or rather the white of them, in respect of cook's clothing, having little or nothing to do with entertaining them], the word in question may be considered as an epithet of the measure أَفْعَلُ that is followed by مِنْ to denote excess: but it is only like the instances in the sayings هُوَ أَحْسَنُهُمْ وَجْهًا and أَكْرَمُهُمْ أَبًا, meaning حَسَنُهُمْ وَجْهًا and كَرِيِمُهُمْ أَبًا; so it is as though he said فَأَنْتَ مُبْيَضُّهُمْ سِرْبَالًا; and as he has prefixed it to a complement which it governs in the gen. case, what follows is in the accus. case as a specificative. This latter verse is by Tarafeh, who satirizes therein 'Amr Ibn-Hind; and is also differently related in respect of the first hemistich, and the first word of the second.
2 بَيَاضُ النَّهَارِ: see 3; and see بَيْضَةٌ, near the end of the paragraph.
3 بَيَاضٌ is also used elliptically for ذُو بَيَاضٍ; and thus means White clothing; as in the saying, فُلَانٌ يَلْبَسُ السَّوَادَ وَالبَيَاضَ Such a one wears black and white clothing. [Hence, also, it has other significations, here following.]
4 Milk. See an ex., voce سَوَادٌ.
5 [ The white of an egg.]
6 بَيَاضُ الأَرْضِ That part of land wherein is no cultivation nor population and the like.
7 بَيَاضُ الجِلْدِ That part of the skin upon which is no hair.
8 بَيَاضٌ also signifies A man's person; like سَوَادٌ; syn. شَخْصٌ; as in the saying, لَا يُزَايِلُ سَوَادِى بَيَاضَكَ My person will not separate itself from thy person.

Lane's Lexicon — The most scholarly Arabic-English dictionary available

The product of over thirty years of unrelenting labor. A work of such unique greatness that to this day it remains supreme in the field of Arabic lexicography.

✓ Full text search • ✓ Root-based navigation
✓ Advanced filters • ✓ Mobile access

Go to LanesLexicon

Trusted by 1000+ researchers worldwide
Featured on Fons Vitae • Used by universities globally

Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

Full Definition

Related Words from the Same Root

Verbs

Nouns