عَوْرَةٌ

Full Definition

عَوْرَةٌ The pudendum, or pudenda, of a human being, of a man and of a woman: so called because it is abominable to uncover, and to look at, what is thus termed: said in the B to be from عَارٌ, meaning مَذَمَّةٌ: [but see what is said voce عَارِيَّةٌ: the part, or parts, of the person, which it is indecent to expose:] in a man, what is between the navel and the knee: and so in a woman: or, in a free woman, all the person, except the face and the hands as far as the wrists; and respecting the hollow of the sole of the foot, there is a difference of opinion: in a female slave, like as in a man; and what appears of her in service, as the head and the neck and the fore arm, are not included in the term عورة. [العَوْرَةُ المُغَلَّظَةُ means The anterior and posterior pudenda: العَوْرَةُ المُخَفَّفَةُ, the other parts included in the term عورة: so in the law-books.] The covering what is thus termed, in prayer and on other occasions, is obligatory: but respecting the covering the same in a private place, opinions differ. The pl. is عَوْرَاتٌ: for the second letter of the pl. of فَعْلَةٌ as a subst. is movent only when it is not و nor ى: but some read [in the Kur xxiv. 31], عَوَرَاتِ النِّسَآءِ, which is of the dial. of Hudheyl.
2 A time in which it is proper for the عَوْرَة to appear; each of the following three times; before the prayer of daybreak; at midday; and after nightfall. These three times are mentioned in the Kur xxiv. 57.
3 Anything that a man veils, or conceals, by reason of disdainful pride, or of shame or pudency: anything of which one is ashamed when it appears.
4 See also عَوَرٌ.
5 A woman: because one is ashamed at her when she appears, like as one is ashamed at the pudendum (العَوْرَة) when it appears: or women.
6 Any place of concealment (مَكْمَنٌ) [proper] for veiling or covering.
7 A gap, an opening, or a breach, or any gap, opening, or breach, in the frontier of a hostile country, &c., or in war or battle, from which one fears slaughter.
8 Sometimes it is applied as an epithet to an indeterminate subst.; and in this case it is applied to a sing. and to a pl., without variation, and to a masc. and a fem., like an Verbal.Noun It is said in the Kur [xxxiii. 13], إِنَّ بُيُوتَنَا عَوْرَةٌ [Verily our houses are open and exposed: or, as expl. by Bd and others, defenceless]: the epithet being here sing.; and the subst. to which it is applied, pl.: but in this instance it may be a contraction of ; and thus it has been read: see عَوِرٌ.
9 Also, or [the pl.] عَوْرَاتٌ, Clefts, or fissures, of mountains.

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