Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

عَثَرَ, aor. ـُ {يَعْثُرُ} (Ṣ, A, Mgh, O, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ـِ {يَعْثِرُ}; (A, Mṣb, Ḳ;) and عَثِرَ, aor. ـَ {يَعْثَرُ}; and عَثُرَ, aor. ـُ {يَعْثُرُ}; (A, Ḳ;) inf. n. عِثَارٌ (Ṣ, Mgh, O, Mṣb, Ḳ) and عَثْرٌ and عَثِيرٌ; (Ḳ;) said of a man and of a horse, (Ṣ, Mṣb,) He stumbled, or tripped; [the most usual meaning;] or he fell upon his face; syn. كَبَا [which has both of these meanings]; as alsoتعثّر↓: (A, Ḳ:) or [simply] he fell; syn. سَقَطَ: (Mgh:) or one says of a man, (Mṣb on the authority of the Mukhtasar el-ʼEyn, and TA on the authority of the T,) عَثَرَ, (Mṣb, TA,) inf. n. عُثُورٌ, (Mṣb,) or عَثْرَةٌ; (TA; [perhaps a mistranscription for عَثْرٌ;]) and of a horse, عَثَرَ, inf. n. عِثَارٌ; (Mṣb, TA;) فِعَالٌ being a measure of inf. ns. of verbs signifying various faults of horses and the like. (TA.) You say, عَثَرَ فِى ثَوْبِهِ [He stumbled, or tripped, upon his garment]. (Ṣ, O, Mṣb.) Andخَرَجَ يَتَعَثَّرُ↓ فِى أَذْيَالِهِ [He went forth stumbling, or tripping, upon his skirts]. (A.) And عَثَرَ بِهِ فَرَسُهُ فَسَقَطَ [His horse stumbled, or tripped, with him, and he fell]. (Ṣ, O.) And it is said in a prov., الجَوَادُ قَدْ يَعْثُرُ [The swift and excellent horse sometimes stumbles, or trips]: applied to a person by whom a slip that is not of his nature is seen to have been committed. (O.)

[Hence,] عَثَرَ فِى كَلَامِهِ andتعثّر↓ ‡ [He stumbled, or tripped, in his speech]. (A.) Andتعثّر↓ لِسَانُهُ ‡ His tongue halted, faltered, or hesitated. (Ṣ, O, TA.)

And [hence, app.,] عَثَرَ, (Kr, Ḳ, TA,) inf. n. عَثْرٌ, (Kr, O, TA,) † He lied. (Kr, O, Ḳ, TA.) One says, فُلَانٌ فِى العَثْرِ وَالبَائِنِ, meaning † [Such a one is occupied] in truth and falsehood [or rather in falsehood and truth]. (O, TA.)

And عَثَرَ عَلَيْهِ, (Ṣ, A, Mgh, O, Mṣb,) aor. ـُ {يَعْثُرُ} (Ṣ, O, Mṣb) and ـِ {يَعْثِرُ}, (TA,) inf. n. عَثْرٌ and عُثُورٌ, (O, Mṣb, Ḳ, [the latter erroneously written in the CK عَثُور,]) ‡ [He stumbled on it; lighted on it by chance;] he got, or obtained, knowledge of it; or sight and knowledge of it; became acquainted with it; knew it; or saw it; (Ṣ, A, Mgh, O, Mṣb, Ḳ,* TA;) accidentally, or without seeking; (TA;) [and so عَثَرَ بِهِ; (see an ex. voce أَشْرَسُ;)] andأَعْثَرَ↓ signifies the same; but accord. to the usage of the Ḳur-án, you say أَعْثَرْتُ غَيْرِى: so in the Kitáb el-Abniyeh of IḲṭṭ. (TA. [See 4.]) You say, عَثَرَ عَلَى سِرِّ الرَّجُلِ ‡ He obtained knowledge of, or became acquainted with, the secret of the man [accidentally]. (TA.) [Hence,] فَإِنْ عُثِرَ عَلَى أَنَّهُمَا ٱسْتَحَقَّا إِثْمًا, in the Ḳur [v. 106], means ‡ But if it become known, or seen, (Ksh, Mgh, O, Bḍ, Jel,) that they two have done what has necessitated sin, (Ksh, Bḍ, Jel,) and deserved its being said of them that they were sinners. (Ksh.) And عَثَرَ, aor. ـُ {يَعْثُرُ}, inf. n. عُثُورٌ, as expl. by Lth, means † He (a man) entered suddenly, or unexpectedly, upon an affair upon which another had not so entered. (TA.)

عَثَرَ جَدُّهُ, (Ḳ, TA,) aor. ـُ {يَعْثُرُ} and ـِ {يَعْثِرُ}, (TA,) means ‡ His fortune, or good fortune, fell; syn. تَعِسَ; (Ḳ, TA;) as being likened to one who has stumbled, or tripped, or fallen upon his face. (TA.)

عَثَرَ العِرْقُ, (Lḥ, Ḳ,) inf. n. عَثْرٌ, (Lḥ, TA,) The vein pulsed. (Lḥ, Ḳ, TA.)

عَثَرَ بِهِ: see 4.

[Hence,] عَثَرَ بِهِمْ الزَّمَانُ ‡ Time, or fortune, destroyed them: (TA:) or caused them to be overcome. (O.)

اعثرهُ He caused him to stumble, or trip; or to fall upon his face; [or simply, to fall;] as alsoعثّرهُ↓; (Ḳ, TA;) [and soعَثَرَ↓ بِهِ; (see 1, last sentence, and see also عَاثُورٌ, first sentence;)] said of God. (TA.) IAạr cites as an ex.,

* فَخَرَجْتُ أُعْثَرُ فِى مَقَادِمِ جُبَّتِى *

* لَوْلَا الحَيَآءُ أَطَرْتُهُ إِحْضَارَا *

[And I went forth, made to stumble, or trip, upon the fore parts of my jubbeh: but for the sense of shame, I had made it to fly, in running]: accord. to one relation, however, the verb in question, in this verse, is أَعْثُرُ. (TA.) And اعثرهُ ٱللّٰهُ is syn. with أَتْعَسَهُ [of which see various explanations in art. تعس]. (TA.)

[Hence,] اعثر بِهِ عِنْدَ السُّلْطَانِ, (Ḳ,) orعثّرهُ↓ عِنْدَهُ, (A,) ‡ He impugned his character to the Sultán, (A, O, Ḳ,) and sought to make him fall into destruction by means of the latter. (A.)

And اعثرهُ عَلَيْهِ ‡ [He made him to stumble upon it, or to light on it by chance; or] he made him to get, or obtain, knowledge of it, or sight and knowledge of it; to become acquainted with it; to know it; or to see it; (Ṣ, A, O, Mṣb, Ḳ;*) accidentally, or without seeking. (B, TA.) Hence the phrase in the Ḳur [xviii. 20] أَعْثَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ; (Ṣ, Ta;) in which غَيْرَهُمْ, the objective complement, is suppressed. (TA.) And اعثرهُ عَلَى أَصْحَابِهِ ‡ He guided him, or showed him the way, to his companions. (A.)

اعثر جَدَّهُ, andعثّرهُ↓, † He [i. e. God] made his fortune, or good fortune, to fall. (Ḳ. [See عَثَرَ جَدُّهُ.])

See also 1, latter half.

عَثْيَرَ القَوْمُ [from عِثْيَرٌ] The people, or party, raised the dust, or earth, or bits of dry clay or compact earth, (termed عِثْيَر,) with the extremities of their toes, in walking. (Kh, Ḥar p. 488.)

عَيْثَرَ الطَّيْرَ [from عَيْثَرٌ] He saw, or beheld, the birds: or he saw that the birds ran: (O:) or he saw the birds running, and augured from them (فَزَجَرَهَا). (Ḳ. [But this addition, فزجرها, is evidently taken from an explanation of the words here following.]) A poet says,

* لَقَدْ عَيْثَرْتَ طَيْرَكَ لَوْ تَعِيفُ *

[i. e. Thou sawest, or beheldest, thy birds;, &c.: would that thou wouldst augur from them, and take warning]. (O.) And you say, عَيْثَرْتُ الشَّىْءَ I saw, or beheld, the thing; (L, TA;) and individuated it. (TA.)

عُثْرٌ A lie; or falsehood; (Ḳ;) as alsoعَثَرٌ↓. (IAạr, Ḳ.)

Also The Eagle: (Ḳ:) a meaning also assigned in the Ḳ, in art. عبر, but erroneously, to عُبْرٌ. (TA.)

عَثْرَةٌ A stumble, or trip, (Mṣb, TA,) in walking, or going along: pl. عَثَرَاتٌ. (TA.)

And [hence,] ‡ A slip, lapse, fault, wrong action, or mistake; (Ṣ, O, Mṣb, TA;) so called as being a fall into sin or crime. (Mṣb.) One says, أَقَالَ ٱللّٰهُ عَثْرَتَكَ ‡ [May God cancel thy slip, lapse, fault,, &c.]. (A.) And it is said in a trad., لَا حَلِيمَ إِلَّا ذُو عَثْرَةٍ i. e. ‡ There is no one to be characterized as of a forbearing disposition except he be one who has committed a slip, and becomes admonished thereby, distinguishing the occasions of error so as to avoid them [and to make allowance for others who have done the like]. (TA.)

And † War, or fight, against unbelievers or others; because war, or fight, is an occasion of frequent stumbling, or tripping: so in a trad., in which it is said, لَا تَبْدَأْهُمْ بِالعَثْرَةِ † [Begin not ye with them by war]; meaning invite ye them first to El-Islám or to the payment of the poll-tax; and if they assent not, then have recourse to war. (TA.)

عَثِرَةٌ Land (أَرْض) without herbage, being high, and overspread with عِثْيَر, i. e. dust: (O, TA:) and said to occur in a trad. as the name of a particular land. (O, Ḳ,* TA.)

عَثَرِىٌّ i. q. عِذْىٌ, (Az, Ṣ, O, Mṣb, TA,) as some say; (Mṣb;) i. e., (Az, Ṣ, O, TA,) Such as is watered by the rain (Az, Ṣ, Ḳ, TA) alone, (Ṣ,) of palm-trees, (Az, O, TA,) or of seed-produce: (Ṣ:) or such as is watered by water running upon the surface of the ground, (O, Mṣb,) of palmtrees: (Mṣb:) or seed-produce that is watered by torrents and by rain, the water being made to flow thereto in channels: (TA:) andعَثْرٌ↓ signifies the same: (Ḳ, TA:) or, accord. to IAth, palm-trees (نَخِيل) that imbibe with their roots of the rain-water that collects in a part hollowed out in the ground: (TA:) the former term is said to be thus applied because what is so called is as though it stumbled upon water without any labour of its owner; regarding it as an irregular rel. n. from العَثْرُ: (O,* TA:) but Abu-l-ʼAbbás [i. e. Th] says that, thus applied, it is with teshdeed to the ث [i. e. عَثَّرِىٌّ], though not in the sense here following. (TA.)

Also ‡ A man who does not occupy himself in seeking the things of the present world nor those of the world to come: (O, Ḳ, TA:) occurring in a trad., in which such is said to be the most hateful of mankind to God: (O, TA:) in this sense, sometimes written with teshdeed to the ث, (Ḳ, TA,) and thus it is accord. to Sh (O, TA) and IAạr; (TA;) but correctly without teshdeed: (Th, Ḳ, TA:) and said by some to be from عَثَرِىٌّ applied to palm-trees. (O,* TA.) One says also, جَآءَ فُلَانٌ عَثَرِيًّا, meaning ‡ Such a one came unoccupied. (O, TA.)

عَثُورٌ [Having a habit of stumbling or tripping, or of falling:] that stumbles, or trips, and falls, much or often. (Ḥar p. 296.)

عِثْيَرٌ, (Ṣ, O, Ḳ,) not عَثْيَرٌ, for there is not in the language any word of the measure فَعْيَلٌ, with fet-ḥ to the ف, except ضَهْيَدٌ, meaning “hardy, strong, or robust,” and this is [said to be] forged, (Ṣ, O, [but see ضهيد,]) Dust, (MA, O, Ḳ,) syn. غُبَارٌ, (O,) or عَجَاجٌ, and تُرَابٌ, (Ḳ,) and thus عِثْيَرَاتٌ↓ is expl. by Sb; (TA;) or dust rising or spreading; (Ṣ, MA;*) as alsoعِثْيَرَةٌ↓; (TA;) andعِثَارٌ↓ signifies the same. (MA.)

And Clay, or earth, (Ḳ, TA,) or dust, or bits of clay or compact earth, (TA,) which one turns over (Ḳ, TA) with the extremities of the feet (Ḳ) or of the toes, in walking, or going along, no other mark of the foot being seen: (TA:) and an obscure trace or mark, (Ḳ, TA,) said to be more obscure than such as is termed أَثَرٌ: (TA:) and soعَيْثَرٌ↓, with the ى put before [the ث] and with fet-ḥ to the ع in both [of these senses: misunderstood by SM as meaning “and with fet-ḥ to the ع in both words,” i. e. in عثير and عيثر]: (Ḳ:) orعَيْثَرٌ↓ signifies an obscure trace or mark: (Ṣ:) and Yaạḳoob mentions the sayingمَا رَأَيْتُ لَهُ أَثَرًا وَلَا عَيْثَرًا↓ and وَلَا عِثْيَرًا [app. meaning I saw not any trace of him nor any obscure trace]: (Ṣ, O:) or ولا عِثْيَرًا means, nor clay, or earth,, &c., turned over by the extremities of his feet: (TA:) and it is said that ولا عَيْثَرًا↓ means, nor bodily form. (O.) And [it is said that] مَا لَهُ أَثَرٌ وَلَا عِثْيَرٌ andولا عَيْثَرٌ↓ means He is not known to be a pedestrian by the appearing of his foot-mark, nor to be a horseman by his horse's raising the dust. (TA.) [See also Ḥar p. 488.]

عِثْيَرَةٌ, and its pl. عِثْيَرَاتٌ: see عِثْيَرٌ.

One says also أَرْضٌ عِثْيَرَةٌ, meaning A land in which is much dust. (TA.)

عَاثِرٌ [Stumbling, or tripping;, &c.]

[And] † A liar. (TA.)

And one says also جَدٌّ عَاثِرٌ † [Fortune, or good fortune, in a falling state: (see 1, near the end:)] pl. عَوَاثِرُ: (TA:)

or this may be pl of عَاثِرٌ signifying The snare of a sportsman:

or it may be pl. ofعَاثِرَةٌ↓ signifying † An accident that destroys, or causes to be overcome, him whom it befalls: (O:)

or it may be pl. of عَاثُورٌ [q. v.], the ى being suppressed, (O, TA,) by poetic license, in a verse in which it occurs. (TA.)

عَيْثَرٌ The substance of a thing; its bodily, or corporeal, form; syn. عَيْنٌ and شَخْصٌ. (T, O, L, Ḳ, TA. [In this sense, it is said in the TA to be erroneously written in all the copies of the Ḳ عَثْيَر, with the ث before the ى; but I find it written عَيْثَر in my MṢ. copy of the Ḳ and also in the CK.]) See also عِثْيَرٌ, in five places.

عَاثُورٌ A pit dug for a lion or other [animal], (Ṣ, A, O,) that he may fall into it, (A,) in order that he may be taken: (Ṣ, O:) this is the primary signification: (A:) or a thing that is prepared for one to fall into it: (Ḳ:) or, as also عثار [i. e.عَثَارٌ↓ orعِثَارٌ↓ (see what follows)], a thing by which one is made to stumble and fall; expl. byمَا عُثِرَ↓ بِهِ: (TA:) the pl. is عَوَاثِيرُ; whence, perhaps, عَوَاثِرُ, by suppression of the ى. (O, TA. [See عَاثرٌ.])

[Hence,] † A place of perdition: (TA voce حَاجُورٌ:) or ‡ a cause, or place, of perdition or of death: (A, Ḳ:) applied to a land. (Ḳ.) You say, وَقَعَ فِى عَاثُورٍ ‡ He fell into a cause, or place, of perdition or of death. (A, TA.) And فُلَانٌ يَقِى صَاحِبَهُ العَوَاثِرَ ‡ [Such a one preserves his companion from the causes, or places, of perdition or of death]. (A.) And it is said in a trad., إِنَّ قُرَيْشًا أَهْلُ أَمَانَةٍ مَنْ بَغَاهَا العَوَاثِيرَ كَبَّهُ ٱللّٰهُ لِمَنْخِرَيْهِ † [Verily the tribe of Kureysh are people of fidelity: whoso seeks for them the causes, or places, of perdition or of death, may God lay him prostrate upon his nostrils]: or, accord. to one relation, عَوَاثِرَ. (O, TA.)

And [hence,] ‡ Difficulty, or distress; as also عَاثُورُ شَرٍّ: (Ṣ, O:) and evil; (Ḳ, TA;) like عَاذُورٌ, which is a dial. var. thereof, or an instance of mispronunciation; (Ṣ and O in art. عذر;) as alsoعَثَارٌ↓, (accord. to some copies of the Ḳ,) orعِثَارٌ↓: (thus in other copies of the Ḳ and in the TA [in the latter of which it is said to be with kesr; and this I think to be the more probably correct; originally an inf. n.]:) andعِثَارُ↓ شَرٍّ is said by Fr to signify the same as عَاثُورُ شَرٍّ. (TA.) You say, لَقِيتُ مِنْهُ عَاثُورًا, (Aṣ, Ṣ, O, TA,) andعِثَارًا↓, (TA,) ‡ I experienced from him, or it, difficulty, or distress. (Aṣ, Ṣ, O, TA.) And وَقَعُوا فِى عَاثُورِ شَرٍّ, (Aṣ, Ṣ, O, TA,) and عَافُورِ شَرٍّ, (Ṣ, O,) ‡ They fell into difficulty, or distress: (Aṣ, Ṣ, O:) or into a confusion of evil and difficulty or distress. (TA.) It is the opinion of Yaạḳoob that the ف in عَافُور is a substitute for the ث in عَاثُور: but Az observes that this is not necessarily the case, as the meaning of difficulty is implied in the root عفر. (TA.)

It is said to signify also A kind of snare (مِصْيَدَة) made of bark. (O.)

And A channel that is dug for the purpose of irrigating thereby a palm-tree such as is termed بَعْلٌ. (O.)

And A well. (Ḳ.)

And it may also be used as an epithet [app. meaning Perilous, or destructive]. (ISd, TA.)