وَحْشٌ

Full Definition

وَحْشٌ , applied to a country, or region, and a place, and a house (داَرٌ), and [its fem.] وَحْشَةٌ, applied to a land (أَرْضٌ), to a house (دار); Desolate, deserted, or destitute of human beings or inhabitants; as also مُوحِشٌ and مُتَوَحِّشٌ : and أَرْضٌ وَحْشَةٌ and signify the same. You say also, بِلَادٌ حِشُونَ Countries, or regions, desolate, deserted, &c.; after the manner of سِنُونَ; and in the accus. and gen., حِشِينَ: pl., as Az says, of حِشَةٌ , originally وَحْشٌ, [So I read instead of وَحْشَة, which is evidently a mistranscription,] the و being wanting, as it is in زِنَةٌ and صِلَةٌ and عِدَةٌ. You also say, لَقِيتُهُ بِوَحْشِ إِصْمِتَ, and إِصْمِتَةَ, i. e., I found him, or met him, in a desolate, or deserted, country, or region. [See remarks on the last word in the former phrase in art. صمت.] And in like manner, تَرَكْتُهُ بِوَحْشِ المَتْنِ I left him in the desert part of the elevated plain, where one could not reach him. And [hence] حِمَارُ وَحْشٍ An ass of a desert; [i. e. a wild ass;] as also حِمَارٌ وَحْشِىٌّ. [And بَقَرُ الوَحْشِ The bull and cow, or bulls and cows, collectively, of the desert; i. e., the wild bull and cow, or bulls and cows.]
2 [Hence also] Animals (حَيَوَان [which is used as a sing. and a pl., but is here meant to be understood collectively, as appears from what follows,]) of the desert, such as are not tame; [i. e. wild animals;] of the fem. gender; as also وُحُوشٌ and وَحِيشٌ : these three words are all used in a collective sense: and وَحْشِىٌّ signifies a single one of such animals; like زَنْجِىٌّ in relation to زَنْجٌ, and رُومِىٌّ to رُومٌ: or وَحْشٌ signifies such as is not tame, of beasts of the desert; and everything that is afraid of human beings (كُلُّ شَىْءٍ يَسْتَوْحِشُ عَنِ النَّاسِ); as also وَحْشِىٌّ , as though the ى were a corroborative, as in دوَّارِىٌّ: or, accord. to El-Fárábee, وَحْشٌ in the pl. [lexicologically, but not in the language of the grammarians] of وَحْشِىٌّ , like as رُومٌ is of رُومِىٌّ: or it is used as a sing., as well as collectively; for you say, هٰذَا وَحْشٌ ضَخْمٌ [this is a bulky wild animal], and هٰذِهِ شَاةٌ وَحْشٌ [this is a wild sheep or goat, &c.]: وُحُوشٌ is a pl. of وَحْشٌ, and so is وُحْشَانٌ, and so is وَحِيشٌ, [lexicologically, but grammarians term it a quasi-pl. n.,] like as ضَئِينٌ is of ضَأْنٌ: or وُحُوشٌ is its only broken pl.
3 [Hence also, Wild, or shy; applied to girls or women: see an ex. of the word in this sense voce تَوٌّ, where it has a redundant ن affixed to it.]
4 [Hence also] Lone; solitary; without company. You say. مَشَى فِى الأَرْضِ وَحْشًا He walked, or went, in the land alone, having no other with him.
5 [Hence also] Hungry; as also مُوحِشٌ , and مُتَوَحِّشٌ , and وَحِشٌ : pl. of the first, أَوْحَاشٌ [and وَحْشُونَ]. You say, بَاتَ فُلَانٌ وَحْشًا, and مُوحِشًا, and مُتَوَحِّشًا, Such a one passed the night hungry, not having eaten anything, so that his inside was empty. And بِتْنَا وَحْشِينَ We passed the night without food. [In another place in the TA, we find لَقَدْ بِتْنَا لَيْلَتَنَا هٰذِهِ وَحْشِى, and so in the L; the last word being evidently a mistranscription, for وَحْشِينَ: and it is added, as though the speaker meant, جَمَاعَةَ وَحْشَى; doubtless a mistake for جَمَاعَةَ وَحْشٍ so that the saying seems to mean, We have passed this our night like a company of wild animals.]

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