خَيْطٌ

Full Definition

خَيْطٌ Thread, or string; or a thread or string; syn. سِلْكٌ; the thing with which one sews; [often used as a coll. gen. n.; n. un. with ة;] and خِيَاطٌ [likewise] signifies the thing with which a garment, or piece of cloth, is sewed; as also مِخْيَطٌ ; besides having another signification, common to it with the last, namely “a needle; ” the pl. of خَيْطٌ is أَخْيَاطٌ [a pl. of pauc.] and خُيُوطٌ and خُيُوطَةٌ [both pls. of mult.]. It is said in a trad., أَدُّوا وَالمِخْيَطَ, meaning [Bring ye] the خَيْط and the needle. And you say, أَعْطِنِى and نِصَاحًا, i. e. [Give thou to me] a single خَيْط. [أَعْطِنَى خِيَاطًا وَنِصَاحًا may, however, mean Give thou to me a needle and thread.]
2 خَيْطُ الرَّقَبَةِ The نُخَاع [or spinal cord] of the neck. You say, جَاحَشَ فُلَانٌ عَنْ خَيْطِ رَقَبَتِهِ, meaning Such a one defended his blood.
3 الخَيْطُ الأَبْيَضُ and الخَيْطُ الأَسْوَدُ, mentioned in the Kur ii. 183, mean The true dawn, and the false dawn: or the whiteness of the dawn, and the blackness of night; likened to a thread because of its thinness: or the whiteness of day, and the blackness of night: or the dawn that extends sideways, and the dawn that rises high, or, as some say, the blackness of night: or what appears of the true dawn, which is the مُسْتَطِير, and what extends with it of the darkness of night, which is the dawn termed the مُسْتَطِيل: or what first appears of the dawn spreading sideways in the horizon, and what extends with it of the darkness of the last part of the night: or the dawn that rises high, filling the horizon, and the dawn that appears black, extending sideways: or the real meaning is the day and the night. الخَيْطَانِ also signifies The night and the day. (L in art. وسد.) تَبَيَّنَ الخَيْطُ مِنَ الخَيْطِ means [The night became distinct from the day: or] what is termed الخَيْطُ الأَبْيَضُ became distinct from what is termed الخَيْطُ الأَسْوَدُ. And خَيْطٌ مِنَ الصُّبْحِ is also said to signify A tint of the dawn. [See بَرِيمُ الصُّبْحِ in art. برم.]
4 خَيْطُ بَاطِلٍ What is called لُعَابُ الشَّمْسِ and مُخَاطُ الشَّيْطَانِ, which last is explained by Z and IB as meaning what comes forth from the mouth of the spider: (TA: [the author of which says that, accord. to this explanation, this term differs from لعاب الشمس: but in so saying he seems to be in error: both evidently signify gossamer:]) it was applied as a surname, or nickname, to Marwán Ibn-El-Hakam; because he was tall, and loose, or uncompact, in frame: or it signifies the air; syn. الهَوَآءُ [perhaps a mistranscription for الهَبَآءُ, occurring in another explanation hereafter]: or light entering from an aperture in a wall [into a dark place] or خَيْطُ البَاطِلِ signifies the scattered هَبَآء [or atoms that are seen in the rays of the sun] entering from an aperture in a wall [into a dark place] when the sun is hot: and one says, فُلَانٌ أَدَقُّ مِنْ خَيْطِ البَاطِلِ [Such a one is less in estimation than the scattered atoms that are seen in the rays of the sun]; a prov., applied to him who is in an abject state; thus related, on the authority of Ahmad Ibn-Yahyà, by Az and others; but by Sgh, erroneously, أَرَقُّ مِنْ خَيْطِ بَاطِلٍ.
5 See also what next follows, in two places.

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