Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

حُسْنٌ

Root: حسن

Full Definition

حُسْنٌ and حُسُنٌ , which is of the dial. of El-Hijáz, and حَسَنٌ , Goodness, or goodliness, [generally the latter,] beauty, comeliness, or pleasingness; contr. of قُبْحٌ: i. q. جَمَالٌ: but accord. to As, [when relating to the person,] حُسْنٌ is in the eyes, and جَمَالٌ is in the nose: symmetry; or just proportion of the several parts of the person, one to another: or anything, moving the mind, that is desired, or wished for; such as is approved by the intellect; and such as is approved by natural desire; and such as is approved by the faculty of sense: in the common conventional language, mostly applied to what is approved by the sight: in the Kur, mostly to what is approved by mental perception: it is in accidents as well as in substances: the pl. is مَحَاسِنُ , like مَلَامِحُ pl. of لَمْحَةٌ, and مَشَابِهُ pl. of شَبَهٌ, &c., contr. to rule, as though pl. of مَحْسَنٌ or مُحْسَنٌ : or, accord. to Lh and Eth-Tha'álibee, مَحَاسِنُ has no proper sing. وَ قُولُوا لِلنَّاسِ حُسْنًا, in the Kur [ii. 77], means And say ye to men a saying having in it goodness (قَوْلًا ذَا حُسْنٍ): or حُسْنًا may mean حَسَنًا: and some read here حَسَنًا: and some, حُسُنًا, accord. to the dial. of El-Hijáz: and some, حُسْنَى , as an Verbal.Noun, like بُشْرَى: but AHát and Zj disallow this; the former saying that حُسْنَى is like فُعْلَى [as fem. of أَفْعَلُ denoting the comparative and superlative degrees], and therefore should have the article ال. وَ وَصَّيْنَا الإِنْسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ حُسْنًا, in the Kur [xxix. 7], means [in like manner] And we have enjoined man to do to his two parents what is good (مَا يَحْسُنُ حُسْنًا): and here [also] some read حَسَنًا; and some, إِحْسَانًا. [See another ex. of a similar kind, from the Kur xviii. 85, voce إِمَّا, near the beginning of the paragraph.]
2 سِتُّ الحُسْنِ [The convolvulus caïricus of Linn.; abundant in the gardens of Cairo;] a certain plant that twines about trees and has a beautiful flower.
3 See also حَسَنٌ.


Lane's Lexicon — The most scholarly Arabic-English dictionary available

The product of over thirty years of unrelenting labor. A work of such unique greatness that to this day it remains supreme in the field of Arabic lexicography.

✓ Full text search • ✓ Root-based navigation
✓ Advanced filters • ✓ Mobile access

Go to LanesLexicon

Trusted by 1000+ researchers worldwide
Featured on Fons Vitae • Used by universities globally