عُرْقُوبٌ
Root: عرقب
Full Definition
عُرْقُوبٌ
[The tendo Achillis, or heel-tendon;] a certain tense, or thick, or thick and tense, tendon, behind the two ankle-bones, above the heel; the thing that conjoins the shank and the foot; in a human being: pl. عَرَاقِيبُ. The saying of the Prophet, وَيْلٌ لِلْعَرَاقِيبِ
مِنَ النَّارِ [Woe to the heel-tendons from the fire of Hell] means, to him who neglects the washing of them in the [ablution termed] وُضُوْء.
2 [In a beast, it is in some instances applied to The hock, or hough; i. e.] the عُرْقُوب of a beast is that which, in its hind leg, corresponds to the رَكْبَة [or knee] in its fore leg: [in other instances, it is applied to the tendon of the hock, or hough; i. e., to the hamstring; for, as] As says, in every quadruped, the عُرْقُوبَانِ are in the hind legs, and the رُكْبَتَانِ in the fore legs; and the عُرْقُوب of the horse is the tendon that conjoins the part wherein meet the وَظِيف [here meaning the metatarsus] and the سَاق [here meaning the tibia]: it is, in a quadruped, the tendon that [corresponds to that which in a human being] is behind the two ankle-bones, between the joint of the foot and the shank: in a human being it is a little above the heel. (TA, from an explanation of a trad. [This last explanation evidently employs terms according to their applications in the comparative anatomy of quadrupeds and human beings, and therefore requires the words which I have supplied. That عُرْقُوبٌ, in relation to a beast, signifies the hocktendon is well known: and that it also signifies the hock itself is shown by a usage of the verb عَرْقَبَ , and by an explanation voce رُكْبَةٌ.]) شَرٌّ مَا أَجَآءَكَ إِلَى مُخَّةِ عُرْقُوبٍ [It is an evil thing that has compelled thee to have recourse to the marrow of a hock] is a prov. applied to him who seeks to obtain a thing from a mean, or sordid, person; for the عرقوب has no marrow. And one says, فُلَانٌ يَضْرِبُ العَرَاقِيبَ ويَقْرَعُ الظَّنَابِيبَ [Such a one smites the hock-tendons of camels to slaughter them, and strikes the shins of camels to make them lie down that he may mount them in haste]; meaning that he entertains guests and gives aid, or succour.
3 عُرْقُوبُ الأَسَدِ is a name of The Thirteenth Mansion of the Moon. (Kzw: see العَوَّآءُ, in art. عو.)
4 طَيْرُ عُرْقُوبٍ is an appellation given to Any bird from which one augurs evil to camels, because it wounds them in the hocks or hock-tendons (يُعَرْقِبُهَا). The Arabs say that when the bird called أَخْيَل [q. v.] lights upon a camel, its hocks, or hock-tendons, will assuredly be laid bare: and accord. to the [O and] K, طَيْرُ العَرَاقِيبِ is an appellation of The [bird called] شِقِرَّاق [which is said in the S &c. to be the same as the أَخْيَل]; and [Sgh and SM add that] they regard it as of evil omen.
5 عُرْقُوبُ القَطَا means The سَاق [or shank] of the قطا [or sand-grouse]. To this a thing is hyperbolically likened to denote its shortness: one says يَوْمٌ أَقْصَرُ مِنْ عُرْقُوبِ القَطَا [A day shorter than the shank of the katà]: and a poet says, namely, El-Find Ez-Zimmánee, or, accord. to Seer, Imra-el- Keys Ibn-'Ábis,
6 عُرْقُوبٌ also signifies
7 And A mountain always crowned with clouds, not rained upon.
8 Also
9 And
def.2 Also the name of a certain man of the Amalekites, or, of the Benoo-Abd-Shems-Ibn-Saad, but this is said to be of no authority, or of El-Ows, the greatest liar of his time, proverbial for breach of promises: El-Ashja'ee says,
2 [In a beast, it is in some instances applied to The hock, or hough; i. e.] the عُرْقُوب of a beast is that which, in its hind leg, corresponds to the رَكْبَة [or knee] in its fore leg: [in other instances, it is applied to the tendon of the hock, or hough; i. e., to the hamstring; for, as] As says, in every quadruped, the عُرْقُوبَانِ are in the hind legs, and the رُكْبَتَانِ in the fore legs; and the عُرْقُوب of the horse is the tendon that conjoins the part wherein meet the وَظِيف [here meaning the metatarsus] and the سَاق [here meaning the tibia]: it is, in a quadruped, the tendon that [corresponds to that which in a human being] is behind the two ankle-bones, between the joint of the foot and the shank: in a human being it is a little above the heel. (TA, from an explanation of a trad. [This last explanation evidently employs terms according to their applications in the comparative anatomy of quadrupeds and human beings, and therefore requires the words which I have supplied. That عُرْقُوبٌ, in relation to a beast, signifies the hocktendon is well known: and that it also signifies the hock itself is shown by a usage of the verb عَرْقَبَ , and by an explanation voce رُكْبَةٌ.]) شَرٌّ مَا أَجَآءَكَ إِلَى مُخَّةِ عُرْقُوبٍ [It is an evil thing that has compelled thee to have recourse to the marrow of a hock] is a prov. applied to him who seeks to obtain a thing from a mean, or sordid, person; for the عرقوب has no marrow. And one says, فُلَانٌ يَضْرِبُ العَرَاقِيبَ ويَقْرَعُ الظَّنَابِيبَ [Such a one smites the hock-tendons of camels to slaughter them, and strikes the shins of camels to make them lie down that he may mount them in haste]; meaning that he entertains guests and gives aid, or succour.
3 عُرْقُوبُ الأَسَدِ is a name of The Thirteenth Mansion of the Moon. (Kzw: see العَوَّآءُ, in art. عو.)
4 طَيْرُ عُرْقُوبٍ is an appellation given to Any bird from which one augurs evil to camels, because it wounds them in the hocks or hock-tendons (يُعَرْقِبُهَا). The Arabs say that when the bird called أَخْيَل [q. v.] lights upon a camel, its hocks, or hock-tendons, will assuredly be laid bare: and accord. to the [O and] K, طَيْرُ العَرَاقِيبِ is an appellation of The [bird called] شِقِرَّاق [which is said in the S &c. to be the same as the أَخْيَل]; and [Sgh and SM add that] they regard it as of evil omen.
5 عُرْقُوبُ القَطَا means The سَاق [or shank] of the قطا [or sand-grouse]. To this a thing is hyperbolically likened to denote its shortness: one says يَوْمٌ أَقْصَرُ مِنْ عُرْقُوبِ القَطَا [A day shorter than the shank of the katà]: and a poet says, namely, El-Find Ez-Zimmánee, or, accord. to Seer, Imra-el- Keys Ibn-'Ábis,
[And my arrows, with their notches, like the shanks of ash-coloured sand-grouse].وَنَبْلِى وَفُقَاهَا كَعَرَاقِيبِ قَطًا طُحْلِ
6 عُرْقُوبٌ also signifies
7 And A mountain always crowned with clouds, not rained upon.
8 Also
9 And
def.2 Also the name of a certain man of the Amalekites, or, of the Benoo-Abd-Shems-Ibn-Saad, but this is said to be of no authority, or of El-Ows, the greatest liar of his time, proverbial for breach of promises: El-Ashja'ee says,
i. e.وَعَدْتَ وَكَانَ الخُلْفُ مِنْكَ سَجِيَّةً مَوَاعِيدَ عُرْقُوبٍ أَخَاهُ بِيَتْرَبِ
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