ثُلَاثُ

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ثُلَاثُ and مَثْلَثُ Three and three; three and three together; or three at a time and three at a time; imperfectly decl. [because] changed from the original form of ثَلَاثَةٌ ثَلَاثَةٌ; or because of their having the quality of epithets and deviating from the original form of ثَلَاثَةٌ: they are epithets; for you say, مَرَرْتُ بِقَوْمٍ مَثْنَى وَثُلَاثَ [I passed by a party of men two and two, and three and three, together]: or they are imperfectly decl. because they deviate from their original as to the letter and the meaning; the original word being changed as above stated, and the meaning being changed to ثَلَاثَةٌ ثَلَاثَةٌ: but the dim. is ثُلَيِّثٌ , perfectly decl., like أُحَيِّدٌ &c., because it is like حُمَيِّرٌ [dim. of حِمَارٌ], assuming the form of that which is perfectly decl., though it is not so in the cases of أَحْسَنُ and the like, as these words, in assuming the dim. form, do not deviate from the measure of a verb, for مَا أُحَيْسِنَهُ [How goodly is he!] is sometimes said. It is said in the Kur [iv. 3], فَٱنْكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُمْ مِنَ النِّسَآءِ وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ, i. e. Then marry ye such as please you, of women, two [and] two, and three [and] three, and four [and] four: [meaning, two at a time, &c.:] here مثنى &c. are imperfectly decl. because deviating from the original form of اِثْنَيْنِ اِثْنَيْنِ, &c., and from the fem. form. And one says مَثْلَثَ , like ثُلَاثَ ثُلَاثَ. You say also, فَعَلْتُ الشَّىْءَ مَثْنَى وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ, meaning I did the thing twice and twice, and thrice and thrice, and four times and four times.
2 [ثُلَاثٌ is app. fem. of ثُلَاثَةٌ, a dial, var. of ثَلَاثَةٌ, of which the fem. is ثَلَاثٌ: and hence,] ذُو ثُلَاثٍ, with damm [to the initial ث], A camel's [girth of the kind called] وَضِين. You say, اِلْتَقَتْ عُرَا ذِى ثُلَاثِهَا [lit., The loops of her girth met together]; (A, TA; [but in a copy of the former, ذى ;]) meaning, she was, or became, lean, or lank in the belly. (A. [See a similar saying voce بِطَانٌ.]) And a poet says, وَقَدْ ضَمَرَتْ حَتَّى بَدَا ذُو ثُلَاثِهَا [And she had become lean, or lank in the belly, so that her girth appeared]: but some say that ذو ثلاثها [here] means her belly, and the two skins, [namely,] the upper, and that which is pared, or scraped off, after the flaying: or, accord. to some, the phrase is حَتَّى ٱرْتَقَى ذو ثلاثها, meaning, so that her fœtus rose to her back; the ثلاث [here again in a copy of the A written with fet-h to the initial ث, and in like manner ثلاثها,] being the سَابِيَآء and the سَلَا and the womb. You say also عَلَيْهِ ذُو , [so I find it written, but perhaps it should be ذو ثُلَاثٍ,] meaning, Upon him is a [garment of the kind called] كِسَآء made of the wool of three sheep. (A, TA. [In the latter without any syll. sign to show that ثلاث here differs from the form in the exs. cited before.])

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