دَلِيلٌ

Root: دل

Full Definition

دَلِيلٌ i. q. دَالٌّ ; i.e.[A director; or] a right director to that which is sought or desired; a guide; one who directs, or rightly directs, another; [an indicator;] and a discoverer: and a thing by which one is directed, or guided, (مَا يُسْتَدَلُّ بِهِ S, TA,) or by which one is rightly directed; [an indication; an evidence; a proof; and an argument;] a sign set up for the knowledge of a thing indicated; (whence smoke is called دَلِيلٌ عَلَى النَّارِ [an indication of fire];) anything whereby a thing indicated is known, whether relating to an object of sense or to the law [&c.], decisive or indecisive: and دَلَالَةٌ is used in the sense of دَلِيلٌ, because a thing is called by the Verbal.Noun of its verb: and so is دِلِّيلَى , though this is asserted in the K to have been said heedlessly by J because this last word is an Verbal.Noun; for the Verbal.Noun is used in the sense of the act. part. n., almost by a general rule, as it is also in the sense of the pass. part. n.: the pl. of دَلِيلٌ is أَدِلَّآءُ [generally restricted to rational beings, or always so restricted,] and أَدِلَّةٌ [generally restricted to things by which one is directed &c., but properly a pl. of pauc.,] and, accord. to some, دَلَائِلُ, or this is pl. of دَلِيلَةٌ [fem. of دَلِيلٌ, or of دَلَالَةٌ , as is also دَلَالَاتٌ. يَا دَلِيلَ المُتَحَيِّرِينَ means O guide of those who are perplexed to that by means of which their perplexity will depart. The saying of a poet, شَدُّوا المَطَى عَلَى دَلِيلٍ دَائِبِ means, as some say, بِدَلِيلٍ [i.e. They bound the saddles upon the camels for riding, with, or by means of, a toiling guide]: or, accord. to IJ, it may be elliptical, for عَلَىدِلَالَةِ دَلِيلٍ, and is like the phrase سِرْ عَلَى ٱسْمِ ٱللّٰهِ; as though he said, مُعْتَمِدِينَ عَلَى دَلِيلٍ دَائِبِ [relying upon a toiling guide].

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Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

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