سُرِّيَّةٌ
Root: سر
Full Definition
سُرِّيَّةٌ
A concubine-slave; a female slave whom
one takes as a possession and for concubitus; a female slave to whom one assigns a house, or chamber, in which he lodges her, and whom he takes as a possession and for concubitus: of the measure فُعْلِيَّةٌ, from سِرٌّ as signifying “ concubitus, ” or as signifying “ concealment, ” because a man often conceals and protects her from his wife; altered from the regular form of a rel. n., by its having damm [in the place of kesr]; for the rel. n. is sometimes thus altered, as in the instances of دُهْرِىٌّ from الدَّهْرُ and سُهْلِىٌّ from الأَرْضُ السَّهْلَةُ: or it is with damm to distinguish it from سِرِّيَّةٌ, which is applied to “ a free woman with whom one has sexual intercourse secretly, ” or “ one who prostitutes herself: ” or it is from سُرٌّ in the sense of سُرُورٌ; because her owner rejoices in her; and if so, it is agreeable with analogy: so says A Heyth; and this is the best that has been said respecting it: or it is of the measure فُعُّولَةٌ, from سَرْوٌ, the latter و being changed into ى for euphony, and then the [other] و being incorporated into it and thus becoming ى like it, after which the dammeh is changed into a kesreh because the ى is next to it: the pl. is سَرَارِىُّ and سَرَارٍ; the latter, by poetic license.
Lane's Lexicon
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Hans Wehr
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Mufradat
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