اِثْنَانِ
Root: ثنى
Full Definition
اِثْنَانِ
a noun of number; applied to the dual number; meaning [Two;] the double of
وَاحِدٌ; with a conjunctive ا [when not immediately preceded by a quiescence, written ٱثْنَانِ]; but this is sometimes made disjunctive when connected with a preceding word by poetic license: of the masc. gender: fem. اِثْنَتَانِ, in which, also, the ا is conjunctive; and
ثِنْتَانِ ; the latter sometimes used, [much less frequently than the former, though the only fem. form mentioned in the M and K,] and of the dial. of Temeem; like as one says, هِىَ ٱبْنَةُ فُلَانٍ and هِىَ بِنْتُهُ: the ت in the dual is a substitute for the final radical, ى, as it is in أَسْنَتُوا, the only other instance of this substitution except in words of the measure اِفْتَعَلَ: in اِثْنَانِ, the final radical, ى is suppressed: it has no sing.: if it were allowable to assign to it a sing., it would be اِثْنٌ [for the masc.] and اِثْنَةٌ [for the fem.], like اِبْنٌ and اِبْنَةٌ: accord. to some, it is originally ثِنْىٌ; and hence the dual ثِنْتَانِ: or it is originally ثَنَىٌ, the conjunctive ا being then substituted for the ى whence the dual ٱثْنَانِ, like ٱبْنَانِ: this is shown by the form of its pl., which is أَثْنَآءٌ, like أَبْنَآءٌ [pl. of ٱبْنٌ, which is originally بَنَىٌ or بَنَوٌ,] and آخَآءٌ [pl. of أَخٌ, which is originally أَخَوٌ]. In the saying in the Kur [xvi. 53], لَا تَتَّخِذُوا إِٰلهَيْنِ
ٱثْنَيْنِ [Take not to yourselves two gods], the last word is added as a corroborative. The phrase ثِنْتَا حَنْظَلٍ occurs, by poetic license, for اِثْنَتَانِ مِنْ حَنْظَلٍ, meaning حَنْظَلَتَانِ [Two colo-
2 Hence, يَوْمُ الٱِثْنَيْنِ, or الٱِثْنَانِ alone, One of the days of the week; [the second; namely, Monday;] because the first, with the Arabs, is الأَحَدُ; as also , like إِلَى; so in the copies of the K; [or,] accord. to some, , [originally الثُّنُوىُ,] of the measure فُعُول, like ثُدِىٌّ [pl. of ثَدْىٌ], is used in this sense; or اليَوْمُ الثُّنَىُّ , [so in the M, accord. to the TT,] mentioned by Sb, on the authority of certain of the Arabs: the pl. is أَثْنَآءٌ and أَثَانِينُ, the latter mentioned on the authority of Th: but it has no dual: and those who say أَثْنَآءٌ form this pl. from الٱِثْنُ, although this has not been in use: or it has neither dual nor pl., being itself a dual; but if you would form a pl. from it, you would regard it as itself a sing., and make its pl. أَثَانِينُ: IB says that أَثَانِينُ has not been heard [from the Arabs], and is only mentioned by Fr, on the ground of analogy; that it is far-fetched in respect of analogy; and that the pl. heard is أَثْنَآءٌ: Seer and others mention, as heard from the Arabs, إِنَّهُ لَيَصُومُ الأَثْنَآءَ [Verily he fasts on the Mondays]. الثنين in يوم الثنين has no dim. (Sb, S in art. امس.) IJ says that the article ال in الثنين is not redundant, though the word is not an epithet: Abu-l-'Abbás says that the prefixing of the article in this case is allowable because the virtual meaning is اليَوْمُ الثَّانِى [the second day]. The saying اليَوْمُ الٱِثْنَانِ means The name of to-day [is الاثنان]; and is like the saying اليَوْمُ يَوْمَانِ [to-day is two days] and اليَوْمُ خَمْسَةَ عَشَرَ مِنَ الشَّهْرِ [to-day is fifteen of the month]. Sometimes, يَوْمُ ٱثْنَيْنِ, without the article ال, occurs in poetry. When a pronoun refers to الاثنان [as meaning Monday], this word may be treated in two ways, [as a sing. and as a dual,] but the more chaste way is to treat it as a sing., as meaning the day: [thus,] Aboo-Ziyád used to say, مَضَى الٱِثْنَانِ بِمَا فِيهِ [Monday passed with what occurred in it]; making it sing. and masc.; and thus he did in the case of every day of the week, except that he made الجُمْعَة fem.: Abu-I-Jarráh used to say, مَضَى الٱِثْنَانِ بِمَا فِيهِمَا, treating the word as a numeral; and thus he treated the third and fourth and fifth days, saying in each of these cases بِمَا فِيهِنَّ.
3 [اِثْنَا عَشَرَ, fem. اِثْنَتَا عَشْرَةَ; respectively, in a case of nasb and khafd, اِثْنَىْ عَشَرَ and اِثْنَتَىْ عَشْرَةَ; and with ٱ when not immediately preceded by a quiescence; mean Twelve: see عَشَرَةٌ.]
meaning [And she was not milked save] three vessels and two, [nor was she given her middaydrink save when her midday-resting was near.]فَمَا حُلِبَتْ إِلَّا الثَّلَاثَةَ وَلَا قُيِّلَتْ إِلَّا قَرِيبًا مَقَالُهَا
2 Hence, يَوْمُ الٱِثْنَيْنِ, or الٱِثْنَانِ alone, One of the days of the week; [the second; namely, Monday;] because the first, with the Arabs, is الأَحَدُ; as also , like إِلَى; so in the copies of the K; [or,] accord. to some, , [originally الثُّنُوىُ,] of the measure فُعُول, like ثُدِىٌّ [pl. of ثَدْىٌ], is used in this sense; or اليَوْمُ الثُّنَىُّ , [so in the M, accord. to the TT,] mentioned by Sb, on the authority of certain of the Arabs: the pl. is أَثْنَآءٌ and أَثَانِينُ, the latter mentioned on the authority of Th: but it has no dual: and those who say أَثْنَآءٌ form this pl. from الٱِثْنُ, although this has not been in use: or it has neither dual nor pl., being itself a dual; but if you would form a pl. from it, you would regard it as itself a sing., and make its pl. أَثَانِينُ: IB says that أَثَانِينُ has not been heard [from the Arabs], and is only mentioned by Fr, on the ground of analogy; that it is far-fetched in respect of analogy; and that the pl. heard is أَثْنَآءٌ: Seer and others mention, as heard from the Arabs, إِنَّهُ لَيَصُومُ الأَثْنَآءَ [Verily he fasts on the Mondays]. الثنين in يوم الثنين has no dim. (Sb, S in art. امس.) IJ says that the article ال in الثنين is not redundant, though the word is not an epithet: Abu-l-'Abbás says that the prefixing of the article in this case is allowable because the virtual meaning is اليَوْمُ الثَّانِى [the second day]. The saying اليَوْمُ الٱِثْنَانِ means The name of to-day [is الاثنان]; and is like the saying اليَوْمُ يَوْمَانِ [to-day is two days] and اليَوْمُ خَمْسَةَ عَشَرَ مِنَ الشَّهْرِ [to-day is fifteen of the month]. Sometimes, يَوْمُ ٱثْنَيْنِ, without the article ال, occurs in poetry. When a pronoun refers to الاثنان [as meaning Monday], this word may be treated in two ways, [as a sing. and as a dual,] but the more chaste way is to treat it as a sing., as meaning the day: [thus,] Aboo-Ziyád used to say, مَضَى الٱِثْنَانِ بِمَا فِيهِ [Monday passed with what occurred in it]; making it sing. and masc.; and thus he did in the case of every day of the week, except that he made الجُمْعَة fem.: Abu-I-Jarráh used to say, مَضَى الٱِثْنَانِ بِمَا فِيهِمَا, treating the word as a numeral; and thus he treated the third and fourth and fifth days, saying in each of these cases بِمَا فِيهِنَّ.
3 [اِثْنَا عَشَرَ, fem. اِثْنَتَا عَشْرَةَ; respectively, in a case of nasb and khafd, اِثْنَىْ عَشَرَ and اِثْنَتَىْ عَشْرَةَ; and with ٱ when not immediately preceded by a quiescence; mean Twelve: see عَشَرَةٌ.]
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