Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

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مُدَاهَنَهٌ

Root: دهن

Form: 3

Full Definition

مُدَاهَنَهٌIII and إِدْهَانٌ signify the same; i. e. The endeavouring to conciliate; syn. مُصَانَعَةٌ: or the making peace with another; or becoming reconciled with another: or the pretending the contrary of, or what is different from, that which one conceals in his mind: and the former signifies also the acting with dishonesty, or dissimulation: or ↓ the latter has this signification; and the former signifies the striving to outwit, deceive, beguile, or circumvent; syn. مُوَارَبَةٌ: or دَاهَنْتُ signifies I hid, concealed, or covered; syn. وَارَيْتُ [accord. to four copies of the S; but probably this is a mistranscription for وَارَبْتُ, meaning I strove to outwit, deceive, beguile, or circumvent, as is indicated in the TA]; and signifies I acted with dishonesty, or dissimulation: or إِدْهَانٌ is [originally] like تَدْهِينٌ [as has been stated above]: but is used as denoting the act of treating with gentleness or blandishment, soothing, coaxing, wheedling, beguiling, or deluding; and abstaining from restraint or prohibition: or it originally signified the anointing such a thing as a hide with some oil or the like: and as such a thing is rendered soft to the sense [of feeling], it was used tropically, or metaphorically, to denote ideal softness, absolutely: hence, the treating with gentleness or blandishment, soothing, coaxing, wheedling, beguiling, or deluding, was termed مُدَاهَنَةٌ: then this tropical signification became commonly known, and conventionally regarded as proper: and then the word [مداهنة or ادهان , or rather each of these words,] was tropically used as signifying the holding a thing in light, or little, or mean, estimation, or in contempt: so in the 'Ináyeh. It is said in the Kur [lxviii. 9], وَدُّوالَوْ تُدْهِنُ They wish that thou wouldst endeavour to conciliate [them], and in that case they will endeavour to conciliate [thee]: or that thou wouldst be soft, pliant, or gentle, in thy religion, and in that case they will be soft, pliant, or gentle: or that thou wouldst be soft, pliant, or gentle, to them, and in that case they will be so to thee: or, accord. to Fr, that thou wouldst be an unbeliever, and they will be unbelievers.
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