Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

نَكَحَ, (Ṣ, Ḳ, &c.,) aor. ـِ {يَنْكِحُ}, (Mṣb, Ḳ,) and ـَ, (Ḳ,) the latter agreeable with analogy, but by some rejected, and the former contr. to analogy, but more common, and the form used in the Ḳur, (TA,) the only instance of an aor. of this form from a verb having ح for its last radical letter, except ينطح and يمنح and ينضح and ينبح and يرجح and يأنح and يأزح and يملح, (ISd,) [and يضح] inf. n. نِكَاحٌ (Ṣ, Ḳ, &c.) and نَكْحٌ; (ISd, Ḳ;) Inivit feminam: and (sometimes, Ṣ) he married, took in marriage, or contracted a marriage with, a woman: as alsoاستنكح↓ (Ṣ, Ḳ, &c.) [andناكح↓, inf. n. مُنَاكَحَةٌ:] used only with reference to a man: (ISd:) but Th uses it with reference to flies: (TA:) J says, that it is sometimes used in the latter sense; but accord. to the Mṣb it is more commonly so used; (MF;) and it is used only in this sense in the Ḳur: (TA:) IF and others say, that it signifies coitus; and coitus without marriage; and marriage without coitus: (Mṣb:) [but] in the Time of Ignorance, when a man demanded a woman in marriage he said, اِنْكِحِينِى; and when he desired fornication, he said, سَافِحِينِى. (TA, in art سفح.) It is disputed whether it be proper or tropical in these two senses; or proper in one, and tropical in one: (MF:) it is said to be from نَكَحَهُ الدَّوَى, or from تَنَاكَحَتِ الأَشْجَارُ, or from نَكَحَ المَطَرُ الأَرْضَ; and if so, it is tropical in both the above senses; and the opinion that it is so is confirmed by this, that the signification of marriage is not understood unless by a word or phrase in connexion with it, as when you say نَكَحَ فِى بَنِى فُلَانٍ [he took a wife from among the sons of such a one]; nor is that of coitus unless by the same means, as when you say نَكَحَ زَوْجَتَهُ [inivit conjugem suam]; and this is one of the signs of a tropical expression. (Mṣb.)

نَكَحَتْ She married, or took a husband. (Ṣ, Ḳ.)

نَكَحَ المَطَرُ الأَرْضَ The rain became commingled with the soil: (Mṣb:) or, rested upon the ground so as to soak it; syn. إِعْتَمَدَ عَلَيْهَا: (Ḳ:) as alsoنَاكَهَا↓. (L.)

نَكَحَهُ الدَّوَى The disease infected him (خَامَرهُ), and overcame him. (Mṣb.)

نَكَحَ النُّعَاسُ عَيْنَهُ ‡ Drowsiness overcame his eye; (Ḳ;) as also نَاكَهَا: and in like manner استنكح↓ النَّوْمُ عَيْنَهُ sleep overcame his eye. (TA.)

انكحهُ المَرْأَةَ He married the woman to him. (TA.)

أَنْكَحَهَا He married the woman; i. e. gave her in marriage. (Ṣ, Ḳ.)

أَنْكِحُوا الحَصَى أَخْفَافَ الإِبِلِ ‡ [Accustom ye the feet of the camels to pebbles]. (A.)

تناكحوا They intermarried; contracted marriages together. (Commencing a trad. in the Jámiʼ eṣ-Ṣagheer.) [And تَنَاكَحَا Se invicem futuerunt: see 6, in art. ردف]

تَنَاكَحَتِ الأَشْجَارُ The trees became drawn, or connected, together. (Mṣb.)

نِكْحٌ andنُكْحٌ↓ substs. from أَنْكَحَهَا, [The act of giving a woman in marriage]. (Ḳ.)

[These two words are properly quasi-inf. ns, of أَنْكَحَ, signifying as explained above; and, like inf. ns., may be used as epithets, meaning A giver of a woman in marriage, correlative to خِطْبٌ.] It was a custom, in the time of paganism, for a man to come to a tribe asking for a woman in marriage; and he would stand up in their assembly, and say خِطْبٌ, i. e., I have come as an asker of a woman in marriage; whereupon it would be said to him نِكْحٌ, meaning We marry her to thee, or give her to thee in marriage, [or, more lit., we are givers of her in marriage: for an inf. n. or quasi-inf. n. used as an epithet is used without variation as sing., dual., and pl.; and masc. and fem.]. نُكْحٌ↓ was also said: but نِكْحٌ is here said for the sake of resemblance to خِطْبٌ. (L.) You say هو نِكْحُهَا He is the person who gives her in marriage: and هِىَ نِكْحَتُهُ She is the person whom he gives in marriage. (Lḥ, L)

نِكْحٌ andنُكْحٌ↓, [and, accord. to Lth and ISh, نِكِحٌ: see إِبِدٌ:] are also two words by which the [Pagan] Arabs used to take women in marriage: (Ṣ:) [meaning A giver of a woman in marriage]. (MF, in art. خطب.) A man used to say to Umm-Khárijeh, in asking her in marriage, خِطْبٌ, and she used to reply نِكْحٌ: hence the saying أَسْرَعُ مِنْ نِكَاحِ أُمِّ خَارِجَةَ [Quicker than the marriage of Umm-Khárijeh]. (Ṣ, Ḳ.) [See خِطْبٌ].

رَجُلٌ نُكَحَةٌ, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) andنُكَحٌ↓ (Ḳ) A man who marries much, or often: (Ṣ, Ḳ, TA:) AZ explains the former by شَدِيدُ النِّكَاحِ, [app. meaning vehement in coitus,] and mentions as its pl. نُكَحَاتٌ: (TA:) [andنَكَّاحٌ↓ (A, TA, art. تيس, &c.) signifies the same.]

نَاكِحٌ (Ṣ, Ḳ) and نَاكِحَةٌ, (Ḳ,) the latter occurring in poetry, (TA,) A woman married; (TA;) having a husband. (Ṣ, Ḳ, TA.) Ex. هِىَ نَاكِحٌ فِى بَنِى فُلاَنٍ She has a husband among the sons of such a one. (Ṣ.)

مَنَاكِحُ Women, or wives; syn. نِسَآءٌ: (Ḳ:) a pl. having no sing.; or its sing. is مَنْكَحٌ↓; [orمَنْكِحٌ↓, which occurs in the Ṣ and Ḳ, art. علث, evidently as signifying a wife; as though being a place of نِكَاح;] orمَنْكُوحَةٌ↓. (TA.)

إِنَّ المَنَاكِحَ خَيْرَهُا الأَبْكَارُ [Verily the best of women to take in marriage are virgins]. A proverb. (TA.)