Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

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مَعِيشَةٌ

Root: عيش

Full Definition

مَعِيشَةٌ Verbal.Noun of عَاشَ [q. v.].
2 Also Victuals, living, sustenance, or food and drink by which one lives; as also عَيْشٌ ; whence you say that dates are the عَيْش of such a family: that whereby life subsists; the means of life or subsistence; as also عَيْشٌ : that whereby one lives; as also عَيْشٌ and مَعَاشٌ and مَعِيشٌ ; or [the state] wherein one lives; as also عَيْشٌ and مَعَاشٌ and مَعِيشٌ : the means of obtaining that whereby one lives: the gain, or earnings, by means of which a man lives; as also مَعِيشٌ : the pl. is مَعَايِشُ, accord. to general opinion, without ء, when formed from the original of the sing., which is مَعْيِشَةٌ, of the measure مَفْعِلَةٌ; or because it is from عَاشَ, so that the measure of the pl. is مَفَاعِلُ: but when it is formed from the secondary form of the sing., it is with ء, [مَعَائِشُ,] مَفْعِلَةٌ being in this case likened to فَعِيلَةٌ, like as مَصَائِبُ is with ء because the ى [in its sing.] is quiescent; but some of the grammarians hold this latter pl. to be incorrect: all the Basree grammarians hold it to be so: or, accord. to some, مَعِيشٌ and مَعِيشَةٌ are from معش; and the pl. in question is therefore of the measure فَعَائِلُ, with ء.
3 مَعِيشَةٌ ضَنْكٌ The punishment of the grave: so, accord. to most of the expositors, in the Kur xx. 123: or, as some say, [strait sustenance] in the fire of hell.
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