حَكَمَةٌ

Full Definition

حَكَمَةٌ [A kind of curb for a horse;] a certain appertenance of a beast; so called because it renders him manageable, or submissive, to the rider, and prevents him from being refractory and the like; or because it prevents him from vehement running: it is the appertenance of the لِجَام [or bridle] that surrounds the حَنَك [or part beneath the chin and lower jaw]: the Arabs used to make it of untanned thong or of hemp; because what they aimed at was courage, not finery: or the appertenance of the لجام that surrounds the حَنَكَانِ [which word app. here means the two jaws] of the horse, and in which are [attached] the عِذَارَانِ [or two side-pieces of the headstall, that lie against the two cheeks]: or a ring which surrounds the مَرْسِن [or part of the nose which is the place of the halter] and the حَنَك [or part beneath the chin and lower jaw], of silver or iron or thong: or a ring which is upon (فى) the mouth of the horse: pl. حَكَمَاتٌ and [coll. gen. n.] حَكَمٌ . Zuheyr says, describing horses, قَدْ حَكَمَاتِ القِدِّ وَ الأَبَقَا meaning قَدْ أُحْكِمَتْ بِحَكَمَاتِ القِدِّ وَ بِحَكَمَاتِ الأَبَقِ [That had been curbed with curbs of untanned thong, and with curbs of hemp]: or, accord. to Abu-l-Hasan, [the meaning is that had been furnished with curbs &c.; for he says that] احكمت is here made trans. because it implies the signification of قُلِّدَتْ: some relate the hemistich thus: حَكَمَاتِ القِدِّ وَ الأَبَقَا [furnished with curbs of untanned thong, and hemp].
2 The chin of a sheep or goat.
3 And, of a man, The fore part of the face: or, as some say, the lower part of the face: a metaphorical term from the حَكَمَة of the لِجَام: or [in some copies of the K “ and ”] his head: [accord. to the CK, or the fore part of the head of a man:] and his state, or condition: and rank, and station. You say, رَفَعَ ٱللّٰهُ حَكَمَتَهُ God exalted, or may God exalt, his head, or his state, or condition, and his rank, and station: because the stooping of the head is a characteristic of the low, or abject. And لَهُ عِنْدَنَا حَكَمَةٌ He has rank in our estimation. And فُلَانٌ عَالِى الحَكَمَةِ [Such a one is elevated in respect of rank, or station.]

def.2 [See also حَاكِمٌ, of which it is a pl.]

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