Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

عَسَفَ فِى الأَمْرِ, (Mṣb,) [aor. ـِ {يَعْسِفُ},] inf. n. عَسْفٌ, (TA,) He did the affair [or he acted in it] without consideration; (Mṣb, TA;*) andتعسّف↓ andاعتسف↓ have the like meaning: (Mṣb,* TA:) whence what next follows. (Mṣb.)

عَسَفَ الطَّرِيقَ He travelled the road not following a right direction: (Mṣb:) [or you say,] عَسَفَ عَنِ الطَّرِيقِ, (O, Ḳ,) aor. ـِ {يَعْسِفُ}, (Ḳ,) inf. n. عَسْفٌ; (TA;) andاعتسف↓, andتعسّف↓; (O, Ḳ;) he declined from the road, (O, Ḳ, TA,) and journeyed without direction and without pursuing a right course: (TA:) or عَسَفَ الطَّرِيقَ (Ḳ,* TA) he travelled the road, (Ḳ, TA,) seeking an object of want, (TA,) without direction: (Ḳ, TA:) andاعتسفهُ↓, andتعسّفه↓, he travelled it without aiming at and hitting upon a right course: (TA:) and عَسَفَ الفَلَاةَ, (Mgh,) or المَفَازَةَ, inf. n. as above, (TA,) he traversed, or crossed, the desert, or waterless desert, without direction, (Mgh, TA,) and without any travelled road; as alsoاعتسفها↓: (Mgh:) or عَسْفٌ signifies the taking a course not along the road, (Ṣ, IAth, O, TA,) and without knowledge: (IAth, TA:) this is said by IAth to be the primary meaning: (TA:) or, accord. to IDrd, the primary meaning is the travelling the road without direction: (O:) andالاِعْتِسَافُ↓ signifies the taking a course at random, without direction and without knowledge. (Ḥam p. 613.) And one says, بَاتَ يَعْسِفُ اللَّيْلَ, inf. n. as above, He passed the night journeying therein without direction, seeking a thing. (Mṣb.) And عَسْفٌ [alone] signifies The going round about by night seeking an object of quest, or desire. (O, Ḳ.) [See also 2, and 4.]

Hence, i. e. from the frequent usage of the verb in its primary sense, عَسَفَ فُلَانٌ فُلَانًا, meaning Such a one treated, or used, such a one wrongfully, unjustly, injuriously, or tyrannically; (O;) as alsoتعسّفهُ↓: (O,* Ḳ:) and عَسَفَ السُّلْطَانُ (O, Ḳ) i. e. [The Sultán, or ruling power,] acted wrongfully, unjustly,, &c.: (Ḳ:) inf. n. as above. (IAth, Mgh, TA.)

And [hence,] عَسَفَ فُلَانَةَ He violated such a woman. (TA.)

And الدَّمْعُ يَعْسِفُ الجُفُونَ † The tears are copious so that they flow in other than their [proper] channels. (A, TA.)

And عَسَفَهُ, aor. and inf. n. as above, He took him, or it, with strength, or force. (Mṣb.)

And عَسَفَهُ He took him as a servant, (O, Ḳ, TA,) or an عَسِيف; (TA;) as alsoاعتسفهُ↓. (O, Ḳ, TA.)

عَسَفَ عَلَيْهِ and لَهُ He worked, or wrought, for him [as a hired servant]. (Ḳ.) One says, كَمْ أَعْسِفُ عَلَيْكَ (O) or لَكَ (TA) i. e. [How long shall I] work for thee, (O, TA,) and earn, or gain, for thee, going repeatedly to and fro for thee like him who goes round about in the night seeking an object of quest, or desire? (TA.)

And عَسَفَ ضَيْعَتَهُمْ, (Ḳ,) aor. as above, (O,) He kept, minded, or managed, their estate, and ordered its affairs in their stead, (O, Ḳ, TA,) and went to and fro occupied in that which should put it [or keep it] in a good, or right, state. (TA.)

عَسْفٌ signifies also The breathing of death, (O, Ḳ.) And عَسَفَ, (O, Ḳ,) aor. ـِ {يَعْسِفُ}, inf. n. عَسْفٌ (O, TA) and عُسُوفٌ, (TA,) said of a camel, (O, Ḳ,) He was at the point of death, and had [the affection, or disease, termed] عُسَاف: or, as some say, he had the affection, or disease, termed غُدَّة [q.v.]: (O:) or he was at the point of death by reason of the [affection, or disease, termed] غُدَّة, and began to breathe [or pant] so that his حَنْجَرَة [or head of the windpipe] became convulsed. (Ḳ.) [See also عَزَفَ.]

تَعْسِيفٌ The journeying without any sign of the way and without track; (TA;) and soتَعَسُّفٌ↓. (TA in art. سمت: see a verse cited in the first paragraph of that art.) [See also 1, and 4.]

عسّفهُ, inf. n. as above, He fatigued, or jaded, him, (O, Ḳ, TA,) namely, his camel, (O, TA,) by journeying. (TA.)

اعسف He journeyed by night, [going at random, in a headstrong and reckless manner,] like the weak-sighted she-camel that beats the ground with her fore feet as she goes along, not guarding herself from anything. (IAạr, O, Ḳ, TA.) [See also 1, and 2.]

And He punished his young man with hard work. (IAạr, O, Ḳ.)

Also He (a man, O) had his camel taken with the breathing of death, (IAạr, O, Ḳ,) termed العَسْف. (IAạr, O.)

And He kept to drinking from the large cup or bowl [termed عَسْف]. (IAạr, O, Ḳ.)

see 1, first quarter, in three places: and see 1.

تَعَسُّفٌ in language is from عَسَفَ الفَلَاةَ, [and the like,] expl. above: (Mgh:) it signifies [in its general application The using, or use of, a discommendable license in language: and particularly vague, or vagueness of, expression; or] the making language to accord with [or to hear] a meaning which it does not plainly indicate. (KT.)

See also 1, third quarter.

[Hence,] one says, وَقَعَ عَلَيْهِ السَّيْفُ فَتَعَسَّفَهُ i. e. [The sword fell upon him, and] hit the bone that was the main stay of the limb, falling short of the joint. (TA.)

انعسف It bent, or inclined; syn. انعطف. (O, Ḳ.) Hence, (TA,) Aboo-Wejzeh says,

*وَٱسْتَيْقَنَتْ أَنَّ الصَّلِيفَ مُنْعَسِفْ↓ *

meaning [And she knew, or became sure, that] the side of the week [was bending, or inclining]. (O, TA.)

عَسْفٌ [inf. n. of 1, q. v. passim.]

[Also] A large drinking-cup or bowl; (Ṣ, O, Ḳ, TA;) like عُسٌّ: pl. عُسُوفٌ. (TA.)

عُسَافٌ, in a camel, as expl. by Aṣ on the authority of an Arab of the desert, is [The suffering experienced] when the حَنْجَرَة [or bead of the windpipe] is convulsed (تَرْجُفُ, O, or تَقْمُصُ, i. e. تَرْجُفُ, Ṣ) by the breathing (Ṣ, O) at death: (O) they say that it is to camels like نِزَاعٌ to man. (TA.) One says of a she-camel, بِهَا عُسَافٌ (O, Ḳ) andعَسَفَاتٌ↓, (Ḳ,) meaning In her is the suffering expl. above: (O:) or the [affection, or disease, termed] غُدَّة (O, Ḳ) occasioning her to be at the point of death and to breathe [or pant] so that her حَنْجَرَة is convulsed. (Ḳ.)

عَسُوفٌ Travelling without following a right direction; [as alsoعَاسِفٌ↓; and, app., in like manner, عِسِّيفٌ↓, but in an intensive sense, occurring in a verse of Esh-Shenfarà, (see Dc Sacy 's Chrest. Ar., see. ed., ii. 359-60,) but not found by me in any of the lexicons:] pl. عُسُفٌ, like as رُسُلٌ is pl. of رَسُولٌ. (Mṣb.) Applied to a she-camel as meaning That goes along at random, heedlessly, or in a headlong manner, not obeying a guide to the right course, and that is not turned by anything. (TA.)

And [hence,] Acting wrongfully, unjustly, injuriously, or tyrannically; syn. جَائِرٌ: (TA:) or one who acts wrongfully,, &c., much, or often; syn. ظَلُومٌ: (Ṣ, Mgh, O,* Ḳ, TA:) andعَسَّافٌ↓ also has the former [or rather the latter] meaning. (TA.)

And One who takes with strength, or force; and so, but in an intensive sense, عَسَّافٌ↓. (Mṣb.)

عَسِيفٌ A hired man; a hireling: (Ṣ, Mgh, O, Mṣb, Ḳ:) or a slave who is held in light, or mean, estimation, or in contempt: (O, L, TA:) in the Ḳ, المُسْتَعَانُ بِهِ is erroneously put for المُسْتَهَانُ بِهِ, the reading in the O and L: (TA:) a poet says, (O,) namely, Nubeyh Ibn-El-Hajjáj, (TA,)

* أَطَعْتُ النَّفْسَ فِى الشَّهَوَاتِ حَتَّى *

* أَعَادَتْنِى عَسِيفًا عَبْدَ عَبْدِ *

[I obeyed the soul in respect of appetites until it rendered me a despised bondman, a slave of a slave]: (O, TA:) it is of the measure فَعِيلٌ in the sense of the measure فَاعِلٌ, from عَسَفَ لَهُ meaning “he worked for him;” or in the sense of the measure مَفْعُولٌ, from عَسَفَهُ meaning “he took him as a servant:” (Ḳ: [and the like is said in the O:]) pl. عُسَفَآءُ (Ṣ, Mgh, O, Mṣb) and عِسَفَةٌ, which latter is anomalous. (TA.)

عَاسِفٌ: see عَسُوفٌ.

Also, applied to a she-camel, (Aboo-Yoosuf, Ṣ, O, Ḳ,) without ة, (O,) as well as to a he-camel, (TA,) At the point of death, and having [the affection, or disease, termed] عُسَاف: or, as some say, having the affection, or disease, termed غُدَّة [q. v.]: (O:) or at the point of death by reason of the غُدَّة, and beginning to breathe [or pant] (Aboo-Yoosuf, Ṣ, Ḳ) so that the حَنْجَرَة [or head of the windpipe] becomes convulsed. (Ḳ.)

هُوَ رَاكِبُ التَّعَاسِيفِ means He is one who has no known place of aim, or pursuit: (Mṣb in art. ركب:) the last word is app. pl. of تَعْسَافٌ, which is of a form common to triliteral-radical verbs, in general. (Mṣb in the present art.)

مَعْسِفٌ A place in which one travels without direction: (O, TA:) [in which is no sign of the way nor any track: pl. مَعَاسِفُ:] one says, أَخَذُوا فِى مَعَاسِفِ البِيدِ [They took their way in the tracts of the deserts, or of the waterless deserts, in which one travels without direction]. (TA.)

مَعْسُوفَةٌ, applied to a woman, Violated. (TA.)