مِرْمَاةٌ
Root: رمى
Full Definition
مِرْمَاةٌ
An arrow with which one shoots at a butt: an arrow with which one learns to shoot; which is the worst kind of arrows: or a small, weak arrow: or an arrow with its [head of] iron: (Th, TA in art. حسب:) or, like سِرْوَةٌ, a round arrow-head: [and app. a missile of any kind: (see مِرْدًى:)] pl. مَرَامٍ. When they see many مَرَامٍ in the quiver of a man, they say,
2 It is also used, tropically, as meaning
3 Also A cloven hoof of a sheep or goat; because it is of the things that are thrown away: [or,] accord. to A 'Obeyd, a thing that is between the two hoofs of a sheep or goat; as also مَرْمَاةٌ : thus, he says, it is explained; but I know not what is its meaning: its dual occurs in the following trad.: لَوْ أَنَّ أَحَدَهُمْ دُعِىَ إِلَى مِرْمَاتَيْنِ لَأَجَابَ وَهُوَ لَا يُجِيبُ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ; in which it is said to be the dual of مِرْمَاةٌ in the former of these two senses; [i. e. If any one of you were invited to partake of two hoofs of a sheep or goat, he would obey the invitation, but he will not obey the invitation to prayer;] or, accord. to A 'Obeyd, it is here the dual of this word in the latter of the same two senses: accord. to IAar, or Aboo-Sa'eed, it here means the kind of arrow called مِرْمَاةٌ: but in another, and similar, trad., مرماتين is followed by أَوْعَرْقٍ [i. e. “ or a bone with some meat remaining upon it ”].
[And the arrows of the slave, most of them are those that are small and weak]: a prov., said to mean that the free man purchases arrows at a high price, buying the broad and long iron head, because he is a man of war and of the chase; but the slave is only a pastor, and therefore is content with what are termed مَرَامٍ, because they are cheaper if he buy them; and if he ask for them as a gift, no one gives him aught but a مِرْمَاة. [See also the last sentence of this paragraph.]وَنَبْلُ العَبْدِ أَكْثَرُهَا المَرَامِى
2 It is also used, tropically, as meaning
3 Also A cloven hoof of a sheep or goat; because it is of the things that are thrown away: [or,] accord. to A 'Obeyd, a thing that is between the two hoofs of a sheep or goat; as also مَرْمَاةٌ : thus, he says, it is explained; but I know not what is its meaning: its dual occurs in the following trad.: لَوْ أَنَّ أَحَدَهُمْ دُعِىَ إِلَى مِرْمَاتَيْنِ لَأَجَابَ وَهُوَ لَا يُجِيبُ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ; in which it is said to be the dual of مِرْمَاةٌ in the former of these two senses; [i. e. If any one of you were invited to partake of two hoofs of a sheep or goat, he would obey the invitation, but he will not obey the invitation to prayer;] or, accord. to A 'Obeyd, it is here the dual of this word in the latter of the same two senses: accord. to IAar, or Aboo-Sa'eed, it here means the kind of arrow called مِرْمَاةٌ: but in another, and similar, trad., مرماتين is followed by أَوْعَرْقٍ [i. e. “ or a bone with some meat remaining upon it ”].
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