Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

غُلَامٌ

Root: غلم

Full Definition

غُلَامٌ [A young man, youth, boy, or male child:] one whose mustache is growing forth or has grown forth: or one from the time of his birth until he attains to the period termed شَبَاب [meaning young manhood (see غُلُومَةٌ)]: or i. q. اِبْنٌ صَغِيرٌ [meaning a son that has not attained to puberty]: and also applied to such as is termed كَهْل [i. e. one of middle age, or between that age and the period when his hair has become intermixed with hoariness]: Az states his having heard the Arabs call thus the new-born child and also the كَهْل: the female is [sometimes] termed غُلَامَةٌ; [i. e.] غُلَامَةٌ occurs in poetry, applied to a جَارِيَة: the pl. of غُلَامٌ is غِلْمَةٌ, a pl. of pauc., and أَغْلِمَةٌ, [also a pl. of pauc.,] or of these two pls. they used only the former, or some of them did so, and غِلْمَانٌ, [a pl. of mult.,] or this is pl. of غِلْمَةٌ: the dim. of غُلَامٌ is غُلَيِّمٌ ; and that of غِلْمَةٌ is أُغَيْلِمَةٌ , as if it were the dim. of أَغْلِمَةٌ though [it has been said that] they did not use this last word; but some of them said غُلَيْمَةٌ , agreeably with analogy.
2 It is also used as meaning A male slave; like as جَارِيَةٌ is used as meaning “ a female slave: ”
3 and as meaning A hireling [or servant].


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