دُهْدُرٌّ

Full Definition

دُهْدُرٌّ a noun signifying What is false, or vain; a lie; syn. بَاطِلٌ and كَذِبٌ: as also دُهْدُرَّيْنِ, its dual, or دُهْ دُرَّيْنِ, or دُهْ دُرَّيْنْ: whence دُهْدُرَّيْنِ and are epithets applied to a liar; or a great or habitual liar: and accord. to AZ, the Arabs used to say, دُهْدُرَّانِ لَا يُغْنِياَنِ عَنْكَ شَيْئًا [Lies will not avail thee aught]: and دُهْدُنٌّ signifies the same as دُهْدُرٌّ.
2 دُهْدُرَّيْنِ is also a noun, i. e. a verbal noun, signifying He was, or has become, unoccupied, or without work; syn. بَطَلَ; like سَرْعَانَ for سَرُعَ, and هَيْهَاتِ for بَعُدَ. Hence the prov., دُهْدُرَّيْنِ سَعْدُ القَيْنِ, without the conjunction وَ [after the first word], and دهدرّين being written as one word, meaning Saad the blacksmith became, or has become, unoccupied, or without work; not being employed because of the people's being diverted from other things by drought and distress. Some say سَاعدُ القَيْنِ: and Aboo-'Obeydeh Maamar Ibn-El-Muthennà relates it thus: دهدرّين سَعْدَ القَيْن, with سعد in the accus. case, and says that دهدرّين is governed in the accus. case by a verb understood; apparently meaning that it is a noun signifying البَاطِلُ, dual of دُهْدُرٌّ, not a verbal noun, as though the prov. meant Cast ye away what is false, or vain, and Saad the blacksmith: but what he says is not correct. Or a certain blacksmith asserted his name to be Saad for some time, and then his lying became manifest; so this was said to him; meaning, Thou hast added falsehood to falsehood, O Saad the blacksmith. It is also related separately; and so J and others relate it; saying ده درّين: [in one copy of the S, I find it written دُهْ دُرَّيْنْ: in another, دُهْ دُرَّيْنِ:] دُهْ being an imperative from الدَّهَآءُ; its final radical letter being transposed to the place of the medial, so that it becomes دُوْهْ, and the و being then rejected because of the two quiescent letters, so that it becomes دُهْ, like as is done in the case of قُلْ: and دُرَّيْنِ being from دَرَّ, “ it was consecutive; ” by the dual form being meant repetition, as in the case of لَبَّيْكَ &c.: so that the meaning is Be thou very lying and cunning, O Saad the blacksmith: and this explanation, says IB, is good, except inasmuch as that the د in درّين thus derived should be with fet-h; or, he adds, it may be with damm to assimilate it to the د in دُهْ [like as القَيْنِ is terminated with kesr to assimilate it to دُرَّيْنِ]. Or the origin of the saying was this: Saad the blacksmith was a Persian, who went about the districts of ElYemen, working for the people; and when he became without work in a district, he used to say, in Persian, دِهْ بَدْرُودْ: [so in a copy of the S; and this, or دِهْ بِدْرُودْ, is the correct reading: in another copy of the S, دَهْ بَدُورُدْ: and in the copies of the K, دِهْ بَدْرُودْ:] meaning, [O town, or village,] farewell: to acquaint them that he was going forth on the morrow: or meaning I am going forth to-morrow: in order that he might be employed: and they arabicized the expression, and made him the subject of a prov. with respect to lying; and said, When ye hear of the blacksmith's departure at night, he is assuredly coming in the morning. Some say that the prov. is elliptical, for بَطَلَ قَوْلُ سَعْدٍ الخ [False is the saying of Saad &c.]. [This is mentioned in the S in art. در.]

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

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

Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

Full Definition

Related Words from the Same Root

Nouns