عُتْبَى

Full Definition

عُتْبَى The being well pleased, content, or satis- fied, [with a person,] or the regarding with good will, or favour: or good pleasure, content, satisfaction, good will, or favour: its primary signification is the returning of one whose good will, or favour, has been solicited, or desired, to the love of his companion: it is the subst. from أَعْتَبَنِى as meaning “ he returned to making me happy, ” &c.; a subst. from الإِعْتَابُ; [i. e.] it is put in the place of اعتاب; and [thus] it signifies [the returning to making one happy, or doing what is pleasing to him, from doing evil to him: or] the returning, from doing evil, to that which makes the person who has reproved, or blamed, or been angry, to be well pleased, content, or satisfied: and [simply] the returning from doing a crime, a misdeed, an offence, or an evil action. One says, أَعْطَانِى العُتْبَى He granted me his good will, or favour. And إِنَّمَا يُعَاتَبُ مَنْ تُرْجَى عِنْدَهُ العُتْبَى Only he should be reproved in whom the [finding a disposition to a] return from his evil conduct may be hoped for. And العُتْبَى is [said to be] used when one does not mean thereby الإِعْتَاب, i. e. in the contr. of its primary sense, in the prov. لَكَ العُتْبَى بِأَنْ لَا رَضِيتَ i. e. [بِلَا رِضَاكَ, as though meaning Thou shalt have content, or satisfaction, without thy being well pleased; or] I will content thee with the contrary of what thou likest: and in like manner the corresponding verb is [said to be] used in the verse of Bishr Ibn-Abee-Kházim cited above in the explanations of that verb: [but the prov. here mentioned may be well rendered thou shalt return from thine evil way against thy wish; for,] accord. to Fr, العُتْبَى in the phrase لَكَ لعُتْبَى signifies the returning, from what one like, to what he dislikes: and it signifies also [as expl. above] the returning from doing a crime, a misdeed, &c.

Lane's Lexicon + Hans Wehr + Mufradat

Three dictionaries. One search.

"The product of over thirty years of unrelenting labor — to this day supreme in the field of Arabic lexicography."

47,000+ classical entries Root-based navigation Full text search Hyperlinked definitions

Try Now

Trusted by researchers at University of Michigan, Duke, Alberta & more

Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

Full Definition

Related Words from the Same Root

Verbs

Nouns