Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

Includes Hans Wehr and al-Mufradat — All in One Search

مُوسَى

Root: موس

Full Definition

مُوسَى [A razor;] a certain instrument of iron, with which one shaves: of the measure فُعْلَى, from المَوْسُ, [Verbal.Noun of مَاسَ,] so that the م is a radical letter, accord. to Lth, [for] Lth says, المَوْسُ is the root (تَأْسِيس [lit. foundation]) of المُوسَى, the thing with which one shaves; therefore, it is imperfectly decl., because of the short fem. ا [written ى], without tenween; and Fr cites a verse [of obscene meaning] in which it is made fem.: or it is from أَوْسَيْتُ رَأْسَهُ, meaning “ I shaved his head, ” of the measure مُفْعَلٌ, so that the ى is a radical letter, as El-Umawee and Yz say, and Aboo-'Amr Ibn-el-Alà inclined to think it so, and therefore it is perfectly decl., with tenween, when indeterminate; or it is of the measure مُفْعَلٌ because this measure is more common than فُعْلَى, and because it is perfectly decl. when indeterminate, whereas فُعْلَى is not so when indeterminate and when determinate: but IAmb says, that it is masc. and fem., and perfectly decl. and imperfectly decl.: ISk says, that the approved way is to make it perfectly decl.: [but] he says that it is fem. [also, and if so it is imperfectly decl.]: and it is related of A'Obeyd, in the Bári', that he said he had not heard it made masc. except by El-Umawee; who asserted it to be masc. only: the pl., accord. to him who makes it imperfectly decl., is مُوسَيَاتٌ; and accord. to him who makes it perfectly decl., مَوَاسٍ. The dim. of موسى, in the sense above explained, [not as a proper name, in which case it is مُوسَى only, without tenween, and has no relation to the same word signifying a razor,] is مُوَيْسِيَةٌ, [but by rule it should be مُوَيْسَى, like حُبَيْلَى,] accord. to him who says هٰذِهِ مُوسَى; and مُوَيْسٍ accord. to him who says هٰذَا مُوسًى.
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