Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

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سَرِيَّةٌ

Root: سرى

Full Definition

سَرِيَّةٌ A portion of an army: of the measure فَعِيلَةٌ in the sense of the measure فَاعِلَةٌ; because marching by night, privily; thus originally, and afterwards applied also to such as march by day: or it may be from الاِسْتِرَآءُ “ the act of choosing, or selecting; ” because a company chosen from the army: (Mgh: [but if so, belonging to art. سرو:]) from five persons to three hundred: or four hundred: or, of horsemen, about four hundred: or the best thereof, or the utmost, consists of four hundred: or, accord. to the “ Fet-h el-Bári, ” from a hundred to five hundred: or nine, and more than this; three, and four, and the like being termed طَلِيعَةٌ, not سَرِيَّةٌ: but it is related of the Prophet that he sent a single person as a سَرِيَّة: the pl. is سَرَايَا and سَرِيَّاتٌ.

def.2 See also سِرْيَةٌ.
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