رب

رُبَّةٌ ذ A party, division, sect, or distinct body or class, of men: (M:) or a large assembly or company: (K:) or a myriad; i. e. ten thousand: (M, K:) or thereabout: (M:) and ↓ رِبّةٌ signifies the same: (M, K:) or this signifies a company [ of men ]: (T:) the pl. of the former is رِبَابٌ: (S, M:) and that of the latter is أَرِبَّةٌ: (T, K:) by Th [and in the K], the former pl. is said to be a pl. of رِبَّةٌ; but this is a mistake. (M.) ― -b2- [Hence, the pl.] رِبَابٌ signifies Companions. (K.) ― -b3- And hence [also], i. e., as pl. of الرُّبَةُ, (S, M,) الرِّبَابُ is an appellation of The [ confederate ] tribes of Dabbeh; (M, K, TA;) or Teym and 'Adee and 'Okl; (T, TA;) or Teym and 'Adee and 'Owf and Thowr and Ashyab; (TA; [but for the orthography of the last of these names I have found no authority; it is written in the TA اشيب, without any syll. signs;]) and Dabbeh was their paternal uncle; (TA;) or five tribes which united in a confederacy, consisting of Dabbeh and Thowr and 'Okl and Teym and 'Adee: (S:) they were thus called because of their division into distinct bodies; (M;) or because they collected themselves (As, Th, S, TA) in distinct bodies: (Th, M, TA:) or because they united in a confederacy against Temeem Ibn-Murr: (AO, M, TA:) or because they dipped their hands in some رُبّ, and formed a confederacy over it: (As, T, M, K:) or, as some say, because they congregated, and became like the رِبَاب [or bundle] of arrows [used in the game called المَيْسِر]: (TA:) the rel. n. is ↓ رُبِّىٌّ, formed from the sing., (Sb, S, M,) accord. to a rule generally observed except when a [single] man has a pl. word for his name, as كِلَابٌ &c. (S, TA.) ― -b4- The sing. (رُبَّةٌ) also signifies Plenty, or abundance, of the means of subsistence: (K:) and constant, or inseparable, prosperity. (Khálid Ibn-Jembeh, TA.) -A2- See also رُبَّى.