عفص

عَفْصٌ ذ [ Galls: and the trees which bear them: ] a certain thing well known, (Msb, K,) of which ink is made, (S, O, TA,) and with which one tans; (Msb;) the produce of the tree called بَلُّوط [or oak ]: (L, TA:) or applied to the trees [ which bear it ] and to the fruit [ thereof ]: (K:) or a certain tree of the kind called بَلُّوط, which [ is also the name of a produce of that tree, i. e., of the acorn, (both of which applications are agreeable with modern usage,) like as عَفْصٌ is also the name of another produce thereof, i. e., the gall, or gallnut; for it is said that this tree ] bears one year بَلُّوط, and another year عَفْص, (Lth, O, K,) of which ink is made: (CK:) it is not of the growth of the land of the Arabs: (IB, TA:) it is astringent; drying; having the quality of repelling effluent matters; and strengthening flaccid and weak members; (K, TA;) and especially the teeth; (TA;) and when steeped in vinegar, it blackens the hair: (K:) the word is post-classical; (S, O, K;) not of the language of the people of the desert: (S, IF, O, Msb:) or it is Arabic; (AHn, O, K;) and from it is derived ↓ عُفُوصَةٌ, signifying “ a taste in which is astringency and bitterness; ” as also the epithet ↓ عَفِصٌ, applied to a taste. (AHn, O.)