عصب

عُصْبَةٌ ذ n. un. of عُصْبٌ [q. v.]. (TA.) ― -b2- And A party, or company, of men (AZ, S, O, Msb) who league together to defend one another; (O; [See also عَصَبَةٌ;]) in number from ten to forty; (AZ, S, O, Msb;) or, about ten: (IF, Msb:) or accord. to Akh, a company [ of men ]; as also ↓ عِصَابَةٌ; having no sing.: (O:) or ↓ the latter, (S, O, Msb,) or each, (K,) signifies a company, or an assemblage, of men, and of horses, (S, O, Msb, K,) or of horses with their riders, (TA,) and of birds, (S, O, Msb, K,) and of other things, (TA,) in number from ten to forty, (K, TA,) or the former from three to ten, or consisting of forty, or of seventy, but said to be originally applied to an unlimited number: its pl. is عُصَبٌ: (IAth, Msb, TA:) and the pl. of ↓ عِصَابَةٌ is عَصَائِبُ. (S, O, Msb, TA.) It is said in a trad. of 'Alee that the أَبْدَال are in Syria; and the نُجَبَاآء, in Egypt; and the ↓ عَصَائِب, in El-'Irák; meaning, by the last, Companies assembled for wars: or a company of devotees, because coupled with the ابدال and the نجباء. (TA.)