Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

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تَمِيمَةٌ

Root: تم

Full Definition

تَمِيمَةٌ A kind of amulet (عُوذَةٌ, T, S) which is hung upon a human being; forbidden to be worn: or a kind of bead: erroneously imagined by some to be the same as مَعَاذَةٌ: but as to the مَعَاذَات that are inscribed with something from the Kur-án, or with the names of God, in these there is no harm: a speckled bead, black speckled with white, or the reverse, which is strung upon a thong, and tied to the neck: sing. of تَمَائِمُ and [n. un. of] تَمِيمٌ : تَمَائِمُ signifies certain beads which the Arabs of the desert used to hang upon their children, to repel, as they asserted, the evil eye: or the تَمِيمَة is, accord. to some, a necklace (قِلَادَة) upon which are put thongs and amulets (عُوَذ): or a necklace (قِلَادَة) of thongs: and is sometimes applied to the amulet (عُوذَة) that is hung upon the necks of children: but he who makes تمائم to signify thongs is in error: El-Farezdak uses the phrase سُيُورُ التَّمَائِمِ because they are beads which are perforated, and into which are inserted thongs or strings whereby they are suspended: Az says, I have not found among the Arabs of the desert any difference of opinion respecting the تميمة, as to its being the bead itself: but accord. to En-Nakha'ee, the Prophet disapproved of everything hung upon a child or grown person, and said that all such things were تمائم: the تميمة is [said to be] thus called because by it the condition of the child is rendered complete.
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