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بَعْلٌ

Root: بعل

Full Definition

بَعْلٌ A husband: pl. بُعُولَةٌ and بُعُولٌ and بِعَالٌ. And A wife; as also بَعْلَةٌ; like زَوْجٌ and زَوْجَةٌ.
2 A lord, a master, an owner, or a possessor, of a thing, such as a house, and a beast, or a she-camel: a head, chief, ruler, or person of authority.
3 [And hence,] A certain idol, of gold, belonging to the people of Ilyás, who is said to be the same as Idrees, the grandfather, or an ancestor, of Noah, or to have been a grandson of Aaron, or the son of the brother of Aaron: it is mentioned in the Kur xxxvii. 123: accord. to one copy of the K, it belonged to the people of Jonas; and so in the Kitáb el-Mujarrad of Kr: accord. to Mujáhid, it means a deity that is not God: or a certain king: but [SM says,] the correct explanation is the first: or a certain idol belonging to the people of Bekk, in Syria; i. e., of the town now called Baala-Bekk: so in the Kur: or it means in the dial. of El-Yemen a lord; and so in the Kur.
4 Also One whom it is a necessary duty to obey; as a father, and a mother, and the like.
5 And A family, or household, whose maintenance is incumbent on a man.
6 And it may be a contraction of بَعِلٌ, as meaning Lacking strength, or power, or ability; unable to find the right way to accomplish his affair.
7 Also A weight, or burden. You say, أَصْبَحَ فُلَانٌ بَعْلًا عَلَى أَهْلِهِ Such a one became a weight, or burden, upon his family; because of his ascendency over them.
8 Elevated land, upon which comes neither running water nor torrent, or that is not rained upon more than once in the year: or land elevated above other land; as being likened to the man who is thus termed.
9 Any palm-trees, and other trees, and seed-produce, not watered: or such as are watered by the rain: or palm-trees (نَخْل) that imbibe with their roots, and so need not to be watered: metaphorically so applied: AA says that it is syn. with عِذْىٌ, meaning what is watered by the rain: but As says that this latter word has the meaning just given, whereas بعل signifies what imbibes with its roots, without irrigation or rain: or palm-trees growing in land whereof the supply of water is near [to the surface], so that it suffices without their having irrigation or rain: or large, so as to imbibe with the roots: and a male palm-tree; likened to the man who is thus termed: and Az says that it is used as meaning [dates such as are termed] قَسْب.
10 And The tax, or impost, that is given for the watering of palm-trees.


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