إِلهٌ

Full Definition

إِلهٌ , or إِلَاهٌ, [the former of which is the more common mode of writing the word,] is of the measure فعَالٌ in the sense of the measure مَفْعُولٌ, like كِتَابٌ in the sense of مَكْتُوبٌ, and بِسَاطٌ in the sense of مَبْسُوطً, meaning [An object of worship or adoration; i. e. a god, a deity]; anything that is taken as an object of worship or adoration, accord. to him who takes it as such: with the article ال, properly, i. q. اللّٰهُ; [sec this word below;] but applied by the believers in a plurality of gods to what is worshipped by them to the exclusion of اللّٰه: pl. آلِهَةٌ: which signifies idols: in the K, this meaning is erroneously assigned to إِلَاهَةٌ: [not so in the CK; but there, الالِهَةُ is put in a place where we should read الإِلَاهَةُ, or إِلَاهَةُ without the article:] [is the fem. of الإِلَاهُ, and] signifies [the goddess: and particularly] the serpent: [(a meaning erroneously assigned in the CK to الآلِهَةُ; as also other meanings here following:) because it was a special object of the worship of some of the ancient Arabs:] or the great serpent: and the [new moon; or the moon when it is termed] هِلَال: and, as also , without ال, the former perfectly decl., and the latter imperfectly decl., and , and أُلَاهَةُ , and , [and app. ,] and الأَلِيهَةُ , the sun; app. so called because of the honour and worship which they paid to it: or the hot sun. [إِلهٌ is the same as the Hebrew אֱלוֹהַּ and The Chaldee XXX; and is of uncertain derivaTion: accord. To some,] it is originally وِلَاهٌ, like as إِشَاحٌ is originally وِشَاحٌ; meaning that mankind yearn towards him who is thus called, [seeking protection or aid,] in their wants, and humble themselves to him in their afflictions, like as every infant yearns towards its mother. [See also the opinions, cited below, on the derivation of اللّٰهُ.]

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Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

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