خَدَمَةٌ

Full Definition

خَدَمَةٌ A thong, plaited, thick and strong, like a ring, which is fastened upon the pastern of a camel, and to which is attached the سَرِيحَة [or thong] of the نَعْل [or leathern shoe with which the foot is sometimes protected], or to which are attached the سَرَائِح [or thongs] of the نعل: [it is the n. un. of خَدَمٌ : and its pl. is خِدَامٌ; as below: in the TA, said to be tropical; but this is pro- bably a mistake: the other significations here following are all tropical:] accord. to AA, [the pl.] خِدَامٌ signifies shackles, or hobbles; syn. قُيُودٌ.
2 Hence, i. q. خَلْخَالٌ [meaning An anklet]; because sometimes made of thongs, with gold and silver affixed thereon: pl. خِدَامٌ, and [coll. gen. n.] خَدَمٌ . كَٱلْمَمْهُورَةٍ إِحْدَى خَدَمَتَيْهَا is a prov. [meaning Like her who has been dowered with one of her two anklets]. (JK, TA. [See also مَهْمُورَةٌ.])
3 [And hence, A ring of white a little above the hoof of a horse &c.] You say of a horse, لَهُ خَدَمَتَانِ مِنْ خِلَافٍ, meaning He has a whiteness [or rather a ring of white a little above the hoof] in his fore leg [or right fore leg] and another in his left fore leg [probably a mistake of a copyist for his left kind leg]. (TA in art. خلف.) [The coll. gen. n. خَدَمٌ is used in the Deewán of the Hudhalees, as stated by Freytag, in the sense of A place where the colour differs, like an anklet, on the foot: and a whiteness on the foot of a bull, surrounding it like a circle: and خِدَامٌ as meaning whiteness: or, as some say, streaks . See also خُدْمَةٌ.]
4 [Hence, also,] The place where each foot comes forth from the trousers.
5 Also The shank; because it is the place of the خَدَمَة, i. e. the anklet: pl. خِدَامٌ and [coll. gen. n.] خَدَمٌ . Hence, in a trad. of Selmán, كَانَ عَلَى حِمَارٍ وَعَلَيْهِ سَرَاوِيلُ وَخَدَمَتاهُ تُذَبْذِبَانِ [He was upon an ass, and upon him were trousers, and his shanks were dangling]: or, as some say, the meaning here is, the parts from which his two feet came forth, of the trousers. And one says, أَبْدَتِ الحَرْبُ عَنْ خِدَامِ المُخَدَّرَاتِ [The war made apparent the shanks, or the anklets, of the girls that had been kept behind the curtains]; meaning the war became vehement.
6 Also A ring of people; a compact ring thereof: likened to the thong described in the first sentence of this paragraph. Hence the saying of Khálid Ibn-El-Weleed, in a letter that he wrote to the Satraps of Persia, الحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ الَّذِى فَضَّ خَدَمَتَكُمْ, meaning [Praise be to God,] who hath dispersed, or broken up, your congregation: for when the thong above mentioned is broken, or parted, the سَرَائِح [or thongs of the leathern shoe] become loosed, and the shoe falls off: so says IAth, and A'Obeyd says the like.

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

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