بَنَانٌ

Root: بن

Full Definition

بَنَانٌ The fingers; syn. أَصَابِعُ: but whether it means peculiarly the اصابع of the hand, or those of the foot also, [i. e. the toes,] is disputed: or the ends, or extremities, thereof: said to be so called because by their means are ordered those circumstances whereby man continues in existence; from أَبَنَّ بِالْمَكَانِ: mentioned in the Kur viii. 12 because therewith one fights, and defends himself: or it there signifies all the limbs, or members, of the body: or the fingers, or toes, and any other parts of all the limbs, or members: or it means in the Kur the شَوَى; so in lxxv. 4; i. e. the arms or hands and the legs or feet: accord. to El-Fárisee the meaning of the words in the Kur lxxv. 4 is, we are able to make their extremities like those of the camel, so that they should not profit by them in handicraft: the n. un. is with ة; meaning, accord. to Lth, a single إِصْبَع [i. e. finger, or toe]; or, accord. to AHeyth, the whole اصبع; or, as some say, the highest عُقْدَة [or joint] of the اصبع: the pl. of pauc. is بَنَانَاتٌ; but a pl. of mult. is sometimes used as one of pauc.; and hence the saying of the rájiz, خَمْسَ بَنَانٍ قَانِئِ الأَظْفَارِ [Five fingers, or ends of fingers, intensely red from the dye of hinnà in the nails], meaning خَمْسًا مِنَ البَنَانِ: and one says, بَنَانٌ مُخَضَّبٌ [Fingers, or ends of fingers, dyed, or much dyed, with hinnà]; for every pl. [or rather coll. gen. n.] between which and its sing., or n. un., there is no difference but ة [added in the latter] may be treated as sing. and masc. Lth cites as an ex. of the n. un., لَيْسَ لِحَىٍّ فَوْقَهُمْ بَنَانَهْ لَاهُمَّ أَكْرَمْتَ بَنِى كِنَانَه meaning [O God, Thou hast honoured the sons of Kináneh: there belongs not to any tribe] excel-lence of the measure of a finger above them.

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