Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

اتوى, said of a man, signifies جَآءَ تَوًّا, i. e. He came alone; by himself: opposed to أَزْوَى meaning “he came with another.” (T.)

See also art. توى.

تَوٌّ [app. from the Persian تُوْ, meaning “a fold,” or “a single fold,”,] One, and no more; single; sole. (T, Ṣ, M, Ḳ.) You say, كَانَ تَوًّا فَصَارَ زَوًّا He, or it, was one only, and became a pair. (TA.) And it is said in a trad., الطَّوَافُ تَوٌّ وَالاِسْتِجْمَارُ تَوٌّ, (Ṣ, TA,) i. e., The circuiting [of the Kaabeh] is one action, and the casting of the pebbles [in the valley of Minè] is one action. (TA.) You say also, جَآءَ تَوٌّا, meaning He came alone; by himself: (T, Ṣ, M:) or he came by a direct course, nothing making him to deviate, and not stopping anywhere in the road; for if he stop anywhere in the road, he is not said to be توّ. (AZ, AʼObeyd, M, Ḳ.) And عَقَدْتُهُ بِتَوٍّ وَاحِدٍ I tied it with a single knot; by turning the cord, or the like, once: so says AZ; and he cites the following ex.:

* جَارِيَةٌ لَيْسَتْ مِنَ الوَحْشَنِّ *

* لَا تَعْقِدُ المَنْطَقَ بِالمُشْتَنِّ *

* إِلَّا بِتَوٍّ وَاحِدٍ أَوْ تَنِّ *

i. e., [A girl that is not of the wild, or shy, sort: she does not tie the zone with the fist, but with a single knot, or] half a knot: the ن in تَنّ [and in وَحْشَنّ and مُشْتَنّ] is redundant: تَنّ being originally تَ, which is a contraction [or rather the half, both as to the letter and the meaning,] of تَوّ. (T.)

A rope that is twisted of a single strand: pl. أَتْوَآءٌ. (T, M, Ḳ.)

[It is said that] it signifies also A thousand horses, or horsemen. (AZ, T, Ḳ.) [But this requires consideration: for] one says, وَجَّهَ فُلَانٌ مِنْ خَيْلِهِ بِأَلْفٍ تَوٍّ, (AZ, T, Ṣ,) meaning [Such a one sent a troop of his horses] with a thousand men; i. e., with one thousand: (Ṣ, TA:) or, as some say, with one complete thousand. (TA.)

Also One who is unoccupied by the business of the present world and of the world to come. (AA, T, Ḳ.*)

Also A structure elevated, reared, or erected. (T, Ḳ.)

تَوَّةٌ A period, or a short period, (سَاعَةٌ, AA, T, Ḳ,) of time. (AA, T.) You say, مَضَتْ تَوَّةٌ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ, and النَّهَار, A period, or a short period, (ساعة,) of the night passed, and of the day. (TA.) And مَا مَضَى إِلَّا حَتَّى كَانَ كَذَا There passed not save a short period (ساعة) to the time that such a thing happened. (IAạr, T.) Hence the saying of the vulgar, تَوَّةً قَامَ [commonly pronounced تَوَّهْ] Just now (السَّاعَةَ) he rose, or stood. (TA.)