Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

بَحَرَ, (TA,) [aor. ـَ {يَبْحَرُ},] inf. n. بَحْرٌ, (Ḳ,) He slit; cut, or divided, lengthwise; split; or clave; (Ḳ, TA;) and enlarged, or made wide. (TA.) Hence the term بَحْرٌ [as meaning “a sea” or “great river”] is said to be derived, because what is so called is cleft, or trenched, in the earth, and the trench is made the bed of its water. (TA.)

بَحَرَهَا, (M,) or بَحَرَ أُذُنَهَا, (Ṣ, A, Mṣb,) aor. ـَ {يَبْحَرُ}, (M, Mṣb,) inf. n. بَحْرٌ, (Ṣ, M, Mṣb, Ḳ,) He slit her (a camel's, Ṣ, M, A, Mṣb, and a sheep's or goat's, M) ear, (Ṣ, M, A, Mṣb, Ḳ,) in halves, or in halves lengthwise, (M, TA,) widely; (B;) and in like manner, بَحَرَهُ he slit his (a camel's) ear widely: (B:) andبحّر↓ آذَانَ الأَنْعَامِ, inf. n. تَبْحِيرٌ, He slit [&c.] the ears of the cattle. (Az, TA in art. بتك.)

[بَحُرَ, aor. ـُ {يَبْحُرُ}, inf. n. بَحَارَةٌ, It was, or became, wide, or spacious. The inf. n. is mentioned in the A: see بَحْرٌ: and see also 10.]

ابحر He embarked [or voyaged] upon the sea or a great river. (Yaạḳoob, Ṣ, M, Ḳ.) [Opposed to أَبَرَّ.]

‡ It (water, Ḳ, sweet water Ṣ, A) was, or became, salt. (Ṣ, A,* Ḳ.)

أَبْحَرَتِ الأَرْضُ The land abounded with places where water stagnated. (T, Ḳ.* [In the latter, مَنَافِعُهَا is put by mistake for مَنَاقِعُهَا. See بَحْرَةٌ.])

† He found water to be salt; not easy, or pleasant, to be drunk. (Ḳ, TA. [In some copies of the Ḳ, for لَمْ يَسُغْ, we find لَمْ يَمْتَنِعْ, which is evidently a mistake.])

He met, or met with, a man unintentionally: (M, Ḳ:) from the phrase, لَقِيتُهُ صَحْرَةَ بَحْرَةَ. (TA.)

تبحّر: see 10.

Also † He (a pastor) took a wide range in abundant pasturage. (TA.)

تبحّر فِى المَالِ ‡ He enlarged himself, or he became, or made himself, ample, or abundant, in wealth, or camels, or the like; (Ḳ,* TA;) as alsoاستبحر↓ فيه. (TA.)

تبحّر فِى العِلْمِ ‡ He went deep into science, or knowledge, and enlarged himself, or took a wide range, therein, (Ṣ, A, Ḳ,) wide as the sea; (TA;) and in like manner one says with respect to other things: (Ṣ:) and soاستبحر↓ فيه. (A, TA.)

استبحر ‡ It (a place) became wide, or spacious, like the sea: (A:) it spread wide; became expanded; (Ḳ;) as alsoتبحّر↓. (TA.) [See also بَحُرَ.]

‡ He (a poet, A, Ḳ, and a خَطِيب, [i. e. a speaker, an orator, or the like,] A) expatiated in speech; was, or became, diffuse therein. (M, A, Ḳ.)

See also 5, in two places.

بَحْرٌ [A sea: and a great river:] a spacious place comprising a large quantity of water; (B;) a large quantity of water, (Ḳ, TA,) whether salt or sweet; (TA;) contr. of بَرٌّ; (Ṣ, A;) so called because of its depth (Ṣ, TA) and large extent; (Ṣ, Mṣb, TA;) from البَحَارَةُ; (A;) or because its bed is trenched in the earth; see 1: (TA:) or a large quantity of salt water, only; (Ḳ;) and so called because of its saltness: (El-Umawee, TA: [but accord. to the A, this word as an epithet meaning “salt” is tropical:]) or rather this is its general meaning: (TA:) for it signifies also any great river; (Ṣ, M, TA;) any river of which the water does not cease to flow; (Zj, T, TA;) such as the Euphrates, for instance; (Ṣ;) or such as the Tigris, and the Nile, and other similar great rivers of sweet water; of which the great salt بَحْر is the place of confluence; so called because trenched in the earth: (T, TA:) pl. [of pauc.] أَبْحُرٌ and [of mult.] بِحَارٌ and بُحُورٌ. (Ṣ, Mṣb, Ḳ.) The dim. is↓أُبَيْحِرٌ, (Ḳ,) which is anomalous; and↓بُحَيْرٌ, which is the regular form: accord. to the Ḳ, the latter is not used; but this is untrue; for it is sometimes used, though rare. (MF.)

Hence its application in the saying of the Arabs, يَا هَادِىَ اللَّيْلِ جُرْتَ إِنَّمَا هُوَ البَحْرُ أَوِ الفَجْرُ, which Th explains by saying that the meaning is, ‡ [O guide of the night, thou hast deviated from the right way:] it is only destruction or thou wilt see the daybreak: the night is here likened to the sea [and with the night is associated the idea of destruction]: but accord. to one recital, it is البَجْرُ, instead of البَحْرُ. (TA. [See art. بجر.])

Also ‡ Salt; as an epithet, applied to water. (Ṣ, A.)

‡ A fleet, or swift, and excellent, horse; (Aṣ, Ḳ;) that runs much; (Aṣ, TA;) that takes a wide range in his running; (Ṣ, A, Mṣb, B;) that runs like the sea, or a great river; or like the sea, or a great river, when it rolls wave over wave. (Nifṭaweyh;, TA.)

‡ A generous man; (Ḳ, TA;) one who takes a wide range in his beneficence, bounty, or kindness; who abounds therein. (TA.) You say, لَقِيتُ بِزَيْدٍ بَحْرًا ‡ [I found, in the place of Zeyd, a man of abundant generosity or beneficence]: ب here denoting substitution. (The Lubáb cited in the TA voce بِ.) And لَقِيتُ مِنْهُ بَحْرًا ‡ [I found him to be a man of exceeding generosity]; a phrase expressing an intensive degree of generosity: and رَأَيْتُ مِنْهُ بَحْرًا [signifies the same]. (Mughnee in art. بِ.)

‡ A man of extensive knowledge or science; one who takes a wide range in his knowledge or science. (B.)

‡ Any person, or thing, that takes a wide range in a thing. (B.)

† Land of seed-produce and fruitfulness; or a tract, or region, in which are green herbs or leguminous plants, and waters; or the part of a country near to water; syn. رِيفٌ: (Aboo-ʼAlee, Ḳ:) and the dim. بُحَيْرٌ↓ is used in the same sense; or, by poetic licence, forبُحَيْرَةٌ↓. (TA.) So in the Ḳur [xxx. 40], ظَهَرَ الفَسَادُ فِى البَرِّ وَالبَحْرِ † [Corruption hath appeared in the desert, or deserts, and in the land of seed-produce and fruitfulness;, &c.]: (Aboo-ʼAlee, TA:) or the meaning here is, [in the desert, or deserts, and in the towns, or villages, in which is water: (see بَرٌّ:) or in the open country and] in the cities [or towns] upon the rivers; by sterility in the former, and scarcity in the latter: (Zj, TA, and T in art. بر:) or in the land and the sea; i. e., the land has become sterile, or unfruitful, and the supply of the sea has become cut off. (Az, TA.) See also بَحْرَةٌ.

Also, البَحْرُ, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) or بَحْرُ الرَّحِمِ, (A, Mgh,) † The bottom (عُمْق, Ṣ, A, Mgh, Ḳ, or قَعْر, IAth, TA) of the womb; fundus uteri: (Ṣ, A, Mgh, Ḳ:) whence blood of a pure red colour, (Ṣ,) or intensely red, (Mgh,) is termed بَحْرَانِىٌّ (Ṣ, Mgh) and بَاحِرٌ. (Ṣ.)

بَحْرَةٌ A wide tract of land: so accord. to Aboo-Naṣr: but in one place he says, a small valley in rugged land: pl. بِحَارٌ. (TA.)

A land, country, or territory, belonging to, or inhabited by, a people; syn. بَلْدَةٌ. (Ṣ, Ḳ.) One says, هٰذِهِ بَحْرَتُنَا This is our land,, &c.; syn. أَرْضُنَا. (Ṣ.) It occurs also in the dim. form [بُحَيْرَةٌ↓], as in the Towsheeh of El-Jelál. (TA.)

Any town, or village, that has a running river and wholesome water: (Ḳ:) and [absolutely] any town, or village: of such the Arabs say, هٰذِهِ بَحْرَتُنَا This is our town, or village: and the pl. بِحَارٌ they apply to cities, as well as towns, or villages. (TA.)

Low, or depressed, land: (IAạr, Ḳ:) occurring also in the dim. form [بُحَيْرَةٌ↓]. (TA.)

A meadow; or a garden; syn. رَوْضَةٌ: (T, TA:) or one that is large, (Ḳ,) and wide. (TA.)

A place where water stagnates. (Sh, Ḳ.)

The pl. isبَحْرٌ↓, (as in some copies of the Ḳ, [or this is a coll. gen. n. of which بَحْرَةٌ is the n. un.,]) or بِحَرٌ, (as in other copies of the Ḳ and in the TA,) or بُحْرٌ, (as in the CK,) and بِحَارٌ. (Ḳ.)

لَقِيتُهُ صَحْرَةَ بَحْرَةَ, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) andصُحْرَةَ بُحْرَةَ↓, as in the Expositions of the Tesheel, &c., (MF,) and صَحْرَةً بَحْرَةً, (Ḳ,) andصُحْرَةً بُحْرَةً↓, (MF,) I met him out, with nothing intervening between me and him; (Ṣ, L;) both of us being exposed to open view; (TA;) without anything concealing, or intervening. (Ḳ, TA.) صحرةَ بحرةَ, without tenween, is a compound denotative of state; not, as some say, consisting of two inf. ns.: and sometimes نَحْرَةً is added; in which case each of the three words is with tenween, decl.; and they do not form a compound. (MF. [But see صَحْرَة.)]

بَحْرِىٌّ Of, or relating to, or belonging to, the sea, or a great river; rel. n. of بَحْرٌ. (Ṣ, Ḳ.)

A seaman; a sailor; (TA;) as alsoبَحَّارٌ↓: (Ḳ:) and [بَحْرِيَّةٌ↓ and] بَحَّارَةٌ↓ seamen; sailors. (Ḳ, TA.)

[In the dial. of Egypt, North; northern; because the Mediterranean Sea lies on the north of that country: like as, in Hebrew, יָם signifies “west;” because that sea lies on the west of Palestine.]

بُحْرَانٌ, a post-classical word, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) used by the physicians, signifying The crisis of a disease; the sudden change which happens to a sick person, (Ṣ, TA,) and the commencement of convalescence, (TA,) in acute diseases; (Ṣ, TA;) at a time fixed by some motion in the heavenly bodies, mostly by a motion of the moon; being a change to health or to the contrary: a word [said to be] of Greek origin. (The Nuzheh of the sheykh Dáwood El-Antákee, cited in the TA.) [Pl. بَحَارِينُ.] They say, هٰذَا يَوْمُ بُحْرَانٍ andيَوْمٌ بَاحُورِىٌّ↓ [This is the day of a crisis of a disease]: باحورىّ being anomalous: (Ṣ, Ḳ:) [perhaps from البَاحُورُ signifying “the moon,” because the crisis of a disease is thought to be mostly fixed by a motion of the moon: or] as though it were a rel. n. of بَاحُورٌ and بَاحُورَآءُ meaning the “vehemence of heat in [the month of] تَمُّوز.” (Ṣ.)

دَمٌ بَحْرَانِىٌّ † Blood of the menses; accord. to El-Ḳutabee: or † intensely red blood: (Mgh:) or † intensely red, and thick, and abundant, menstrual blood: (IAth:) or ‡ black blood: (A:) or, as alsoدَمٌ بَاحِرٌ↓, (Ṣ, M, Mṣb, Ḳ,) † blood of the womb: (Ḳ:) or † blood of a pure red colour: (Ṣ, M, Ḳ:) or † such blood from the belly: (M:) or † pure blood of an intensely red colour: (Mṣb:) both from البَحْرُ signifying “the bottom of the womb:”: (Ṣ:) the former is a rel. n. therefrom, (A, IAth, Mṣb,) in which the ا and ن are added to give intensiveness to the signification, (IAth,) or to distinguish it from the rel. n. of البَحْرُ [in its most common sense]: (Mṣb:) or it is a rel. n. of البَحْرُ [in its most common sense], because of its abundance. (IAth.)

أَحْمَرُ بَحْرَانِىٌّ, andبَاحِرٌ↓, (TA,) andبَاحِرِىٌّ↓, (IAạr, TA,) † Intense red. (TA.)

بَحِيرَةٌ A she-camel having her ear slit: (Ṣ,* A, Mṣb, Ḳ *:) [and, as a subst., or an epithet in which the quality of a subst. is predominant,] a she-camel of which the mother was a سَائِبَة; (Fr, Ṣ, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ;) i. e., of which the mother had brought forth ten females consecutively before her, and of which the ear was slit; (Mgh;) or of which the mother had brought forth five, of which five the last, if a male, was slaughtered and eaten, but if a female, her ear was slit and she was left with her mother; (Mgh,* Mṣb;) the predicament of which was the same as that of her mother; (Fr, Ṣ, Ḳ;) i. e., what was unlawful with respect to her mother was unlawful with respect to herself: (TA:) or a she-camel, or ewe, or she-goat, that had brought forth five young ones, and of which the fifth, if a male, was slaughtered, and its flesh was eaten by the men and women; but if a female, her ear was slit, and it was unlawful to the Arabs to eat her flesh and to drink her milk and to ride her; but when she died, her flesh was lawful to the women: (Ḳ:) so says Az, on the authority of Ibn-ʼArafeh: (TA: [but it appears from the explanation in the Mṣb, quoted above, that it was the slit-eared young she-camel here mentioned, not the mother, that was thus termed:]) or a she-camel, or ewe, or she-goat, which, having brought forth ten young ones, had her ear slit, (Ḳ,) and no use was made of her milk nor of her back, (TA,) and she was left at liberty to pasture, (Ḳ,) and to go to water, (TA,) and her flesh, when she died, was made unlawful to the women of the Arabs, but was eaten by the men: (Ḳ:) or one that was left at liberty, without a pastor: (Ḳ:) or, as some say, syn. with سَائِبَةٌ; i. e., say they, a she-camel which, having brought forth seven young ones, had her ear slit, and was not ridden, nor used for carrying: (Mṣb:) or a she-camel that had brought forth five young ones, the last of which was a male, in which case her ear was slit, and she was exempted from being ridden and from carrying and from being slaughtered, and not prevented from taking of any water to which she came, nor from any pasturage, nor even ridden by a weary man who, having become unable to proceed in his journey, his means having failed him, or his camel that bore him stopping with him from fatigue or breaking down or perishing, might chance to find her: (Aboo-Ishák the Grammarian, TA: [and the like, but less fully, is said in the Mgh:]) or, applied specially to a ewe, or she-goat, one that, having brought forth five young ones, had her ear slit: (L, Ḳ, TA: [in the CK, for بُحِرَت is put نُحِرَت:]) it also signifies a she-camel (L) abounding in milk: (L, Ḳ:) the pl. is بَحَائِرُ and بُحُرٌ; (L, Ḳ;) the latter a strange form of pl. of a fem. sing. such as بحيرة; and said to be the only instance of the kind except صُرُمٌ pl. of صَرِيمَةٌ, meaning “having her ear cut off.” (TA.) It is said in a trad., that the person who instituted the practices relative to the بحيرة and the حَامِى, and the first who altered the religion of Ishmael, was ʼAmr the son of Loheí the son of Kama'ah the son of Jundab; and these practices are forbidden in the Ḳur v. 102. (TA.)

بُحَيْرَةٌ A small sea; a lake: as though they imagined the word بَحْرَةٌ [as syn. with بَحْرٌ]: otherwise there is no reason for the ة. (M, TA.)

See also بَحْرٌ: and see بَحْرَةٌ, in two places.

بَاحُورٌ and↓بَاحُورَآءُ The vehemence of heat in [the Syrian month of] تَمُّوز or تَمُوز [corresponding to July, O. Ṣ.]: (Ṣ, Ḳ:) [pl. of the former بَوَاحِيرُ:] both are [said to be] post-classical words: (Ṣ:) but they are [classical words,] arabicized; for they occur in verses of the kind called رَجَز of some of the [early] Arabs. (MF.)

البَاحُورُ The moon. (Aboo-ʼAlee, Ḳ.)