Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

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نَقِيبٌ

Root: نقب

Full Definition

نَقِيبٌ i. q. مَنْقُوبٌ, A thing perforated, pierced, bored. or having a hole made through, or in. or into it.
2 نَقِيبٌ A musical reed, or pipe.
3 The tongue of a pair of scales, or balance
4 A dog having the upper part of his mindpipe (غَلْصَمَتُهُ: so in the S, K or having his windpipe, حَنْجَرَتُهُ: so in the A) perforated, in order that his cry may be weak: a base man performs this operation on his dog, in order that guests may not hear its cry.

def.2 نَقِيبُ قُوْمٍ The intendant, superintendent, overseer, or inspector, of a people; he who takes notice, or cognisance, of their actions, and is responsible for them; i. q. عَرِيفُهُمْ and شَاهِدُهُمْ and ضَمِيُهُمْ: like أَمِينٌ and كَفِيلٌ: their head, or chief: like عَرِيفٌ [q. v.]; i. e., one who is set over a people, and investigates their affairs: or, as some say, the greatest, or supreme, chief of a people: so called [from نَقَبَ “ he scrutinized, or investigated, ”] because he is acquainted with the secret affairs of the people, and knows their virtues, or generous actions, and is the way by which one obtains knowledge of their affairs: pl. نُقَبَاءُ.
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