Edward William Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon, ز

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زِنْدِيقٌ ذ One who is of the ثَنَوِيَّة [or asserters of the doctrine of Dualism]: (S, O, K:) or one who asserts his belief in [the two principles of] Light and Darkness: or one who does not believe in the world to come, nor in the Deity: (O, K:) or one who does not believe in the world to come nor in the unity of the Creator: (T, Msb:) or one who conceals unbelief and makes an outward show of belief: (K:) an arabicized word, (S, Msb,) originally Pers., so they say, (Msb,) from الزَّنْدُ, which is a book belonging to them [i. e. the book of Zoroaster]: (PS:) [or from the Pers. زَنْدِيك, meaning magian, or fire-worshipper: and this seems to be its primary meaning; as De Sacy says in his “ Chrest. Ar., ” 2nd ed., ii. 274:] or, accord. to IDrd, it is an arabicized word from the Persian زِنْدَه, (Mgh, [thus in my copy, app. for زَنْدَهْ, in which the ه may be, as it is in many other instances, an affix denoting some kind of relationship,]) or زَنْدَ كِرْ, (TA, as from the L, [but not very clearly written, and with an erasure, such as to suggest that the original and right reading may be زَنْدْ گِيرْ, which may be rendered holder of the Zend, but]) which is expl. as meaning he [who] asserts his belief in the eternity, or the endlessness, of the present world: (Mgh, TA:) or it is arabicized from زَنْ دِين i. e. woman's religion: (O, K:) or the right explanation is this: that it is a term of relation to the زَنْد, which is the book of Mánee the Magian, who was in the time of Bahrám the son of Hurmuz the son of Sáboor [or Shápoor], and who claimed to be successor to the Messiah, on whom be peace; and, desiring fame, composed this book, which he hid in a tree, and then took forth: الزَّنْدُ, in their language, is “ explanation; ” and he meant that this was the explanation of the book of Zará- dusht [or Zoroaster] the Persian; and in it he held that there are two gods, Light and Darkness, Light creating good, and Darkness creating evil: (TA:) or, accord. to the “ Mefáteeh el-'Uloom, ” زِنْدِيقٌ means a follower of Mánee, and also a follower of Mezdek, who (i. e. Mezdek) appeared in the days of Kubádh, and asserted that possessions and women were in common, and put forth a book which he called زند, which is the book of the Magians, that was brought by Zará- dusht, whom they assert to have been a prophet: and the companions of Mezdek were named in relation to [this] زند; which word, being arabicized, was converted into زِنْدِيقٌ: (Mgh:) Th says that زِنْدِيقٌ is not of the [genuine] language of the Arabs; (Mgh, TA;) and when the Arabs desire to express the meaning in which it is commonly used, (Mgh, * Msb, TA,) which is one who does not hold any religion, and who asserts his belief in the endlessness of time, (Msb,) they say مُلْحِدٌ, (Mgh, Msb, TA,) i. e. [a deviater from the right religion, or] an impugner of religions, (Msb,) and دَهْرِىٌّ: (Mgh, TA:) some say that it is from الزَّنْدَقَةُ; because the زنديق straitens himself: (L, TA:) an Arab of the desert is related to have explained it as meaning one who looks much into things, or affairs: (Msb:) the pl. is زَنَادِقَةٌ and زَنَادِيقُ; (S, O, Msb, K;) the latter being the original pl., and the ة of the former being a substitute for the suppressed ى of the latter. (S, O.)