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أُمٌّ ذ A mother (T, S, M, Msb, K, &c.) [of a human being and] of any animal; (IAar, T;) as also ↓إِِمٌّ, (Sb, M, Msb, K) and ↓إُِمَّةٌ, (T, M, Msb, K,) and ↓أُمَّهَةٌ, (S, M, Msb, K,) which last is the original form (S, Msb) accord. to some, (Msb,) or the ه in this is augmentative (M, Msb) accord. to others: (Msb:) the pl. is أُمَّهَاتٌ (Lth, T, S, M, Msb, K) and أُمَّاتٌ; (S, M, Msb, K;) or the former is applied to human beings, and the latter to beasts; (T, S;) or the former to rational beings, and the latter to irrational; (M, K;) or the former is much applied to human beings, and the latter to others, for the sake of distinction; (Msb;) but the reverse is sometimes the case: (IB:) IDrst and others hold the latter to be of weak authority: (TA:) the dim. of أُمٌّ is ↓ أُمَيْمَةٌ (T, S, K) accord. to some of the Arabs; but correctly, [accord. to those who hold the original form of أُمٌّ to be أُمَّهَةٌ,] it is ↓ أُمَيْمِهَةٌ . (Lth, T, TA. [In a copy of the T, I find this latter form of the dim. written اميهة.]) ― -b2- أُمَّ لَكَ denotes dispraise; (S;) being used by the Arabs as meaning Thou hast no free, or ingenuous, mother; because the sons of female slaves are objects of dispraise with the Arabs; and is only said in anger and reviling: (A Heyth, T:) or, as some say, it means thou art one who has been picked up as a foundling, having no Known mother: (TA:) [or] it is also sometimes used in praise; (A 'Obeyd, T, S, K;) and is used as an imprecation without the desire of its being fulfilled upon the person addressed, being said in vehemence of love; [lit. meaning mayest thou have no mother!], like ثَكِلَتْكَ أُمُّكَ, and لَا أَبَا لَكَ, [and قَاتَلَكَ اللّٰهُ,] &c. (Har p. 165.) ― -b3- Some elide the ا of أُمّ; as in the saying of 'Adee Ibn—Zeyd. “ أَيُّهَا العَائِبُ عِنْدِمَّ زَيْدٍ
” [O thou who art blaming in my presence the mother of Zeyd]; meaning, عِنْدِى أُمَّ زَيْدٍ; the ى of عندى being also elided on account of the occurrence of two quiescent letters [after the elision of the ا of أُمّ]: (Lth, T, S:) and as in the phrase وَيْلُمِّهِ, (S,) which means وَيْلٌ لِأُمِّهِ. (S, and K in art. ويل, q. v.) ― -b4- هُمَا أُمَّاكّ means They two are thy two parents: or thy mother and thy maternal aunt. (K.) [But] فَدَّاهُ بِأُمَّيْهِ is said to mean [He expressed a wish that he (another) might be ransomed with] his mother and his grandmother. (TA.) ― -b5- One says also, لَا تَفْعَلِى ↓ يَا أُمَّتِ [O my mother, do not thou such a thing], and [in like manner] يَا أَبَتِ افْعَلْ; making the sign of the fem. gender a substitute for the [pronominal] affix ى; and in a case of pause, you say يَا أُمَّهْ. (S.) ― -b6- And one says, مَا أُمِّى وَأُمُّهُ, and مَا شَكْلِى وَشَكْلُهُ, meaning [What relationship have I to him, or it? or what concern have I with him, or it? or] what is my case and [what is] his or its, case? because of his, or its, remoteness from me: whence, (T,) “ وَمَا أُمِّى وَأُمُّ الوَحْشِ لَمَّا
تَفَرَّعَ فِى مَفَارِقِىَ الْمَشِيبُ
” [And what concern have I with the wild animals when hoariness hath spread in the places where my hair parts?]; (T, S;) i. e. مَا أَنَاوَطَلَبُ الوَحْشِ بَعْدَ مَا كَبِرْتُ [i. e. مَا أمْرِي وَطَلَبُ الوَحْشِ: in one copy of the S, وَطَلَبَ, i. e. with وَ as a prep. denoting concomitance, and therefore governing the accus. case: both readings virtually meaning what concern have I with the pursuing of the wild animals after I have grown old?]: he means, the girls: and the mention of أُمّ in the verse is superfluous. (S.) ― -b7- أُمٌّ also relates to inanimate things that have growth; as in أُمُّ الشَّجَرَةِ [The mother of the tree]; and أُمُّ النَّخْلَةِ [the mother of the palm-tree]; and أُمُّ المَوْزِةَ [the mother of the banana-tree; of which see an ex. in art. موز]; and the like. (M, TA.) ― -b8- And it signifies also The source, origin, foundation, or basis, (S, M, Msb, K,) of a thing, (S, Msb, [in the former of which, this is the first of the meanings assigned to the word,]) or of anything; (M, K) its stay, support, or efficient cause of subsistence. (M, K.) ― -b9- Anything to which other things are collected together, or adjoined: (IDrd, M, K:) anything to which the other things that are next thereto are collected together, or adjoined: (Lth, T:) the main, or chief, part of a thing; the main body thereof: and that which is a compriser, or comprehender, of [other] things: (Ham p. 44:) the place of collection, comprisal, or comprehension, of a thing; the place of combination thereof. (En-Nadr, T.) ― -b10- And hence, (IDrd, M,) The head, or chief, of a people, or company of men; (IDrd, S, M, K;) because others collect themselves together to him: (IDrd, TA:) so in the phrase أُمُّ عِيَالٍ [lit. the mother of a household], in a poem of Esh-Shenfarà: (IDrd, M:) or in this instance, it has the signification next following, accord. to Esh-Sháfi'ee. (T.) ― -b11- A man who has the charge of the food and service of a people, or company of men; accord. to EshSháfi'ee: (T:) or their servant. (K.) ― -b12- A man's aged wife. (IAar, T, K.) ― -b13- A place of habitation or abode. (K.) So in the Kur [ci. 6], فَأُمُّهُ هَاوِيَةٌ His place of habitation or abode [shall be] the fire [of Hell]: (Bd, Jel, TA:) or, as some say, the meaning is أُمُّ رَأْسِهِ هَاوِيَةٌ فِيهَا [his brain shall fall into it, namely, the fire of Hell]. (TA.) ― -b14- The ensign, or standard, which an army follows. (S.) [See أُمُّ الرُّمْحِ, below.] ― -b15- It is said in a trad., respecting the prophets, أُمَّهَا تُهُمْ شَتَّى, meaning that, though their religion is one, their laws, or ordinances, or statutes, are various, or different: or the meaning is, their times are various, or different. (TA in art. شت.) ― -b16- See also أُمَّةٌ, in two places. ― -b17- أُمّ is also prefixed to nouns significant of many things. (M.) [Most of the compounds thus formed will be found explained in the arts. to which belong the nouns that occupy the second place. The following are among the more common, and are therefore here mentioned, with the meanings assigned to them in lexicons in the present art., and arranged in distinct classes.] ― -b18- أُمُّ الرَّجُلِ The man's wife; and the person who manages the affairs of his house or tent. (TA.) And أُمُّ مَثْوَى الرَّجُلِ The man's wife, to whom he betakes himself for lodging, or abode: (T:) the mistress of the man's place of abode. (S, M.) ― -b19- أُمُّ عَامِرٍ The hyena, or female hyena; as also أُمُّ عَمْرٍو; (TA;) and أُمُّ الطَّرِيقِ. (S, TA. [See also other significations of the first and last below.]) أُمُّ حِلْسٍ [or أُمُّ الحِلْسِ (as in the S and K in art. حلَس）] The she-ass. (TA.) أُمُّ البَيْضِ The female ostrich. (S, K.) ― -b20- أُمُّ الرَّأُسِ The brain: (T, M, K:) or the thin skin that is upon it: (IDrd, M, K:) or the bag in which is the brain: (T:) or the skin that comprises the brain; [the meninx, or dura mater and pia mater;] (S, Mgh;) which is called أُمُّ الدِّمَاغِ (S, Msb) likewise. (S.) ― -b21- أُمُّ النُّجُومِ The Milky way; (S, M, K) because it is the place where the stars are collected together [in great multitude]: (M:) or, as some say, the sun; which is the greatest of the stars. (Ham pp. 43 and 44.) Because of the multitude of the stars in the Milky way, one says, مَا أَشْبَهَ مَجْلِسَكَ بِأُمِّ النُّجُومِ (assumed tropical:) [How like is thine assembly to the Milky way!]. (TA.) ― -b22- أُمُّ القُرَى [The mother of the towns; the metropolis: particularly] Mekkeh; (T, S, M, K) because asserted to be in the middle of the earth; (M, K;) or because it is the Kibleh of all men, and thither they repair; (M, K; *) or because it is the greatest of towns in dignity: (M, K:) and every city is the أُمّ of the towns around it. (T.) أُمُّ التَّنَائِفِ The most difficult of deserts or of waterless deserts: (T:) or a desert, or waterless desert, (S, K,) far extending. (S.) أُمُّ الطَّرِيقِ (T, S, M) and ↓ أُمَّةٌ الطَّرِيقِ (M, K) The main part [or track] of the road: (T, S, M, K:) when it is a great road or track, with small roads or tracks around it [or on either side], the greatest is so called. (T. [The former has also another signification, mentioned above.]) أُمُّ عَامِرٍ The cemetery, or place of graves. (T. [This, also, has another signification, mentioned before.]) أُمُّ الرُّمْحِ The ensign, or standard; (M, K;) also called أُمُّ الحَرْبِ; (TA;) [and simply الأُمُّ, as shown above;] and the piece of cloth which is wound upon the spear. (T, M. *) أُمُّ جَابِرٍ Bread: and also the ear of corn. (T.) أُمُّ الخَبَائِثِ [The mother of evil qualities or dispositions; i. e.] wine. (T.) أُمُّ الكِتَابِ [in the Kur iii. 5 and xiii. 39] (S, M, &c.) The original of the book or scripture [i. e. of the Kur-án]: (Zj, M, K:) or the Preserved Tablet, اللَّوْحُ المَحْفُوظُ: (M, Msb, K:) or it signifies, (M, K,) or signifies also, (Msb,) the opening chapter of the Kur-án; the فَاتِحَة; (M, Msb, K;) because every prayer begins therewith; (M;) as also أُمُّ القُرْآنِ: (Msb, K:) or the former, the whole of the Kur-án, (I'Ab, K,) from its beginning to its end: (TA:) and the latter, every plain, or explicit, verse of the Kur-án, of those which relate to laws and statutes and obligatory ordinances. (T, K.) أُمُّ الشَّرِّ Every evil upon the face of the earth: and أُمُّ الخَيْرِ every good upon the face of the earth. (T.)
An Arabic-English Lexicon. London. Williams and Norgate. 1863.
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