أَرْنَبٌ

Full Definition

أَرْنَبٌ [The hare; and now applied to the rabbit also;] a certain animal, well known, like the عناق [?], having short fore legs and long hind legs, that treads the ground with the hinder parts of its [hind] legs: a certain very prolific animal, called in Pers. خركوش [or خَرْگُوشْ]: it is said that it is one year a male and another year a female, and menstruates like women; and its fore legs are shorter than its hind legs: when it sleeps, it keeps its eyes open; and when it is sick, it eats green canes (قَصَب), and its sickness ceases: the word is a gen. n., of the fem. gender, accord. to El-Jáhidh; but applied to the male and the female; as is also أَرْنَبَةٌ , which is a dial. var.: or to the female [only]; the male being called خُزَزٌ; accord. to Lth; but others allow its application to the male: the female is also called عِكْرِشَةٌ: and the young, خِرْنِقٌ: the pl. is أَرَانِبُ and أَرَانٍ, the latter, like ثَعَالٍ for ثَعَالِبُ, occurring in poetry, and not allowed by Sb except in poetry. The ا in أَرْنَبٌ is augmentative, accord. to Lth: accord. to most of the grammarians it is disjunctive, or radical: Lth says that no word commences with a radical ا but such as is triliteral; as أَرْضٌ and أَرْشٌ. [Hence,] one says of the low, abject, or ignominious, and weak, إِنَّمَا هُوَ أَرْنَبٌ [He is only a hare]; because that animal cannot defend itself, and even the lark will endeavour to make it its prey. See another ex. below, voce أَرْنَبَةٌ. [Hence, also,] الأَرْنَبُ is the name of A certain constellation, [Lepus,] comprising twelve stars in its figure, having no observed stars around it, situate beneath the feet of الجَبَّار [i. e. Orion], and facing the west.
2 Also, or مَرْنَبٌ accord. to the L, or both, and يَرْنَبٌ , A جُرَذ [or large field-rat], like the jerboa, having a short tail.
3 الأَرْنَبُ البَحْرِىُّ, accord. to Kzw, A certain marine animal, the head of which is like that of the أَرْنَب [or hare], and the body like that of a fish: or, accord. to Ibn-Seenà, a small testaceous animal, which is of a poisonous quality when drunk [app. meaning in water]: so that, accord. to this explanation, the resemblance [to the ارنب commonly so called] is in the name, not the form.

def.2 Also A sort of ornament worn by women.

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