قَصَبٌ

Full Definition

قَصَبٌ [a coll. gen. n., signifying Reeds, or canes; and the like, as the culms of corn, &c.; and sometimes signifying a reed, or cane, and the like, as meaning a species thereof;] any plant having its stem composed of أَنَابِيب [or internodial portions] and [their] كُعُوب [or connecting knots, or joints]; [i. e. any kind, or species, of plant having a jointed stem;] i. q. أَبَآءٌ [a word comparatively little known]; (S; [in the O اَناء, a mistranscription;]) and [it is said that] قَصْبَآءُ signifies the same: the n. un. of the former is قَصَبَةٌ and قَصْبَاةٌ or : (K accord. to different copies; the former accord. to the TA: [but each of these I believe to be a mistake for , which is said to be a n. un. of قَصْبَآءُ, and therefore held by some to be syn. with قَصْبَآءُ قَصَبَةٌ [appears, however, to differ somewhat from قَصَب, for it is said that it] signifies an assemblage of قَصَب; and its n. un. is قَصَبَةٌ and قَصْبَآءَةٌ [like حَلَفَةٌ and حَلْفَآءَةٌ which are both said to be ns. un. of حَلْفَآءٌ; and طَرَفَةٌ and طَرْفَآءَةٌ, said to be ns. un. of طَرْفَآءٌ; the former in each case anomalous]: or, accord. to Sb, قَصْبَآءُ is sing. and pl., and so طَرْفَآءُ, and حَلْفَآءُ; as pl. and as sing. also having the sign of the fem. gender; therefore, when they mean to express the sing. signification, they add the epithet وَاحِدَةٌ; thus, and thus only, distinguishing the sing. meaning from the pl., and making a difference between a word of this class and a noun that denotes a pl. meaning and has not the sign of the fem. gender such as تَمْرٌ and بُسْرٌ, and such as أَرْطًى and عَلْقًى of which the ns. un. are أَرْطَاةٌ and عَلْقَاةٌ: or, as some say, قَصْبَآءُ signifies many قَصَب growing in a place: and it signifies also a place in which قَصَب grow: [or] مَقْصَبَةٌ has this last meaning; or signifies, like أَرْضٌ , a land having قَصَب.
2 أَحْرَزَ قَصَبَ السَّبْقِ, or السَّبْقِ, [meaning He won, or acquired, the canes, or cane, of victory in racing,] is said of the winner in horseracing: they used to set up, in the horse-course, a cane (قَصَبَة,) and he who outstripped plucked it up and took it, in order that he might be known to be the one who outstripped, without contention: this was the origin of the phrase: then, in consequence of frequency of usage, it was applied also to the expeditious, quick, and light, or active: [accord. to the TA, it is a tropical phrase, but perhaps it is so only when used in the latter way:] it is said in a trad. of Sa'eed Ibn-El-Ás, that he measured the horse-course with the cane, making it to be a hundred canes in length, and the cane was stuck upright in the ground at the goal, and he who was first in arriving at it took it, and was entitled to the stake. (O, TA. [See also مُقَصِّبٌ.])
3 [The here mentioned as A certain measure of length, used in measuring race-courses, was also used in other cases, in measuring land, and differed in different countries and in different times: accord. to some, it was ten cubits; thus nearly agreeing with our “ rod: ” (see جَرِيبٌ:) accord. to others, six cubits and a third of a cubit: (see فَدَّانٌ:) the modern Egyptian قَصَبَة, until it was reduced some years ago, was about twelve English feet and a half; its twentyfourth part, called قَبْضَةٌ, being the measure of a man's fist with the thumb erect, or about six inches and a quarter.]
4 القَصَبُ الفَارِسِىُّ [The Persian reed] is a kind whereof writing-reeds are made: and another kind thereof is hard and thick; and of this kind are made musical reeds, or pipes; and with it houses, or chambers, are roofed. One says, قَصَبُ الخطِّ أَنْفَذُ مِنْ قَصَبِ الخَطِّ [meaning Writingreeds are more penetrating, or effective, than the canes of El-Khatt ; i. e., words wound more than spears].
5 قَصَبُ السُّكَّرِ is well-known [as meaning The sugar-cane]: this is of three kinds; white and yellow and black: of the first and second, but not of the third, the juice [of which sugar is made] is expressed; and this expressed juice is called عَسَلُ القَصَبِ.
6 قَصَبُ الذَّرِيرَةِ [is Calamus aromaticus; also called قَصَبُ الطِّيبِ]: a species thereof has the joints near together, and breaks into many fragments, or splinters, and the internodial portions thereof are filled with a substance like spiders' webs: when chewed, it has an acrid taste, and it is aromatic when brayed, or powdered; and inclines to yellowness and whiteness. (Mgh, Msb. [See also ذَرِيرَةٌ, in art. ذر.])
7 قَصَبٌ also signifies Any round and hollow bone [or rather bones]; it is pl. [or rather a coll. gen. n.] of which قَصَبَةٌ is the sing. [or n. un,], this latter signifying any bone containing marrow; thus called by way of comparison [to the reed, or cane].
8 And The bones of the يَدَانِ and رِجْلَانِ [i. e. arms and legs, or hands and feet, but here app. meaning the latter], and the like: [or] the [phalanges, or] bones of the fingers and toes; the bones whereof there are three in each finger and two in the thumb [and the like in the feet]; and Zj says, the bones of the أَصَابِع [or fingers and toes] which are also called سُلَامَى: (Msb in art. سلم:) or, as some say, the portions between every two joints of the أَصَابِع: and الأَصَابِعِ [or قَصَبُةُ الإِصْبَعِ] signifies the أَنْمَلَة [here perhaps meaning the ungual phalanx] of the finger or toe.
9 And The bones and veins of a wing.
10 [And Quills: thus in the phrase صَارَ الرِّيشُ قَصَبًا, in the K, voce أَنُوقٌ, meaning The feathers became quills: n. un. قَصَبَةٌ : see صَنَمَةٌ.]
11 And [The bronchi;] the branches of the windpipe; and outlets of the breath; [i. e.] القَصَبُ, or فَصَبُ الرِّئَةِ, signifies the ducts (عُرُوق) of the lungs; through which the breath passes forth. [See حَلْقٌ.]
12 And Any things made of silver, and of other material, resembling [in form] the kind of round and hollow bone [or bones] thus called: n. un. قَصَبَةٌ . And Jewels having the form of tubes (أَنَابِيب), or oblong, and hollow.
13 And Brilliant pearls, and brilliant chrysolites, interset with jacinths. So in the saying, in a trad., related as uttered by Gabriel, [cited in the S app. as an ex. of the meaning next preceding this last,] بَشِّرْ خَدِيجَةَ بِبَيْتِ فِى الجَنَّةِ مِنْ قَصَبٍ i. e. [Rejoice thou Khadeejeh by the announcement of] a pavilion [in Paradise] of brilliant pearls, &c.: or the meaning is, of hollow pearls [or pearl], spacious, like the lofty palace: or of emerald: (TA voce بَيْتٌ:) and it is said by some to convey an allusion to Khadeejeh's acquiring what is termed قَصَبُ السَّبْقِ [expl. above], because she was the first person, or the first of women, who embraced El-Islám.
14 And Fine, thin, or delicate, or soft, garments, or cloths, of linen: a single one thereof is called قَصَبِىٌّ . One says, مَعَ فُلَانٍ قَصَبُ صَنْعَآءَ وَقَصَبُ مِصْرَ [In the possession of such a one are] قَصَب [meaning the cylindrical, or oblong, hollow pieces] of carnelian [of San'à], and قَصَب [meaning the fine, or soft, garments, or cloths,] of linen [of Egypt].
15 Also The channels by which water flows from the springs, or sources: or the channels by which the water of a well flows from the springs, or sources: n. un. قَصَبَةٌ . And قَصَبُ البَطْحَآءِ The waters [of the kind of water-course called بطحآء ] that run to the springs, or sources, of the wells. Aboo-Dhueyb says, أَقَامَتْ بِهِ فَٱبْتَنَتْ خَيْمَةً عَلَى قَصَبٍ وَفُرَاتٍ نَهَرْ meaning She remained [in it, and constructed for herself a booth, or a tent,] amid wells and sweet water that flowed copiously.
16 See also قَصَبَةٌ below, in the next paragraph.

def.2 القَصَبُ is also a name for The ewe.
2 And قَصَبْ قَصَبْ is A call to the ewe to be milked.

Lane's Lexicon — The most scholarly Arabic-English dictionary available

The product of over thirty years of unrelenting labor. A work of such unique greatness that to this day it remains supreme in the field of Arabic lexicography.

✓ Full text search • ✓ Root-based navigation
✓ Advanced filters • ✓ Mobile access

Trusted by 1000+ researchers worldwide
Featured on Fons Vitae • Used by universities globally

Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

Full Definition

Related Words from the Same Root

Verbs

Nouns