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صعب

Root entry · 19 derived lemmas

The root 'صعب' (ṣaʿb) primarily denotes difficulty, hardship, and ruggedness. It extends to describe things that are not easy to manage, control, or overcome, including difficult terrain, stubborn animals, and challenging situations. It can also be used metaphorically for things that are formidable or unyielding.

Derived headwords

الصَّعْبadjective
  1. 1.
    difficultboth

    The opposite of easy or tractable; hard to deal with or overcome.

  2. 2.
    rugged (terrain)both

    Describing land that is uneven, stony, or hard to traverse.

  3. 3.
    stubborn (animal)both

    Referring to an animal, especially a camel or horse, that is not easily tamed, ridden, or controlled.

صَعْبَةadjective
  1. 1.
    difficult (feminine)both

    The feminine form of 'ṣaʿb', referring to a difficult thing or situation.

  2. 2.
    stubborn (feminine animal)both

    The feminine form of 'ṣaʿb', referring to a female animal that is difficult to manage.

صِعَابnoun
  1. 1.
    difficultiesboth

    The plural of 'ṣaʿb', referring to hardships, challenges, or difficult matters.

  2. 2.
    stubborn animals (fem. pl.)both

    The plural of 'ṣaʿbah', referring to female animals that are difficult to ride or manage.

صَعُبَverb
  1. 1.
    to be difficultboth

    To become hard, arduous, or challenging.

صُعُوبَةnoun
  1. 1.
    difficultyboth

    The state or quality of being difficult; hardship.

أَصْعَبَverb
  1. 1.
    to become difficultclassical

    To make something difficult or to become difficult.

  2. 2.
    to make a camel not rideableclassical

    To allow a camel to remain unridden, especially a male camel kept for breeding.

اسْتَصْعَبَverb
  1. 1.
    to find difficultboth

    To perceive or consider something to be difficult.

  2. 2.
    to make difficultclassical

    To cause something to become difficult.

تَصَعَّبَverb
  1. 1.
    to become difficultclassical

    To make something difficult for oneself or to become difficult.

مُصْعَبadjective
  1. 1.
    unridden (camel)classical

    A camel, especially a male, that has not been ridden or tamed.

  2. 2.
    difficult to manageclassical

    Describing something or someone that is hard to control or handle.

مُصْعَبname
  1. 1.
    Mus'ab (name)both

    A male given name, famously borne by Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr.

مُصْعِبadjective
  1. 1.
    difficultclassical

    One who finds things difficult or makes things difficult.

مَصَاعِبnoun
  1. 1.
    difficultiesboth

    Plural of 'ṣuʿūbah', referring to hardships and challenges.

صَعْبُوبnoun
  1. 1.
    hardshipclassical

    A severe difficulty or hardship.

صَعَابِيبnoun
  1. 1.
    hardshipsclassical

    Plural of 'ṣaʿbūb', referring to severe difficulties or tribulations.

صَعْبَانname
  1. 1.
    Sa'ban (name)classical

    A name of a man, which became a tribal name.

صَعْبَةname
  1. 1.
    Sa'bah (name)classical

    A name of a woman.

صُعَيْبَةname
  1. 1.
    Su'aybah (name)classical

    A diminutive form of 'Sa'bah', a woman's name.

الصَّعْب ذُو القَرْنَيْنname
  1. 1.
    Al-Sa'b Dhu al-Qarnaynclassical

    A title or epithet for a historical figure, possibly referring to Dhul-Qarnayn.

عَقَبَة صَعْبَةphrase
  1. 1.
    difficult passboth

    A steep, arduous, or challenging mountain pass or obstacle.

Parallel reading

الصَّعْب: خِلَاف السَّهْل، نَقِيض الذَّلُول
The difficult: the opposite of the easy, the contrary of the tractable.
وَالْأُنْثَى صَعْبَة، بِالْهَاءِ، وَجَمْعُهُمَا صِعَاب
And the feminine is ṣaʿbah, with the ḥāʾ, and their plural is ṣiʿāb.
وَصَعُبَ الْأَمْرُ وَأَصْعَبَ، عَنِ اللِّحْيَانِيِّ، يَصْعُبُ صُعُوبَةً: صَارَ صَعْبًا
And the matter became difficult and made difficult, according to Al-Liḥyānī, it becomes difficult with difficulty: it became difficult.
وَاسْتَصْعَبَ وَتَصَعَّبَ وَصَعَّبَهُ وَأَصْعَبَ الْأَمْرَ: وَافَقَهُ صَعْبًا
And he sought to make it difficult, and he made it difficult, and he made it difficult, and he made the matter difficult: he found it difficult.
وَاسْتَصْعَبَ عَلَيْهِ الْأَمْرُ أَيْ صَعُبَ
And the matter became difficult for him, meaning it was difficult.
وَاسْتَصْعَبَهُ: رَآهُ صَعْبًا
And he found it difficult: he saw it as difficult.
فَلَمَّا رَكِبَ النَّاسُ الصَّعْبَةَ وَالذَّلُولَ، لَمْ نَأْخُذْ مِنَ النَّاسِ إِلَّا مَا نَعْرِفُ
And when people rode the difficult and the tractable, we took from people only what we knew.
وَالْأُنْثَى: صَعْبَةٌ، وَالْجَمْعُ صِعَابٌ
And the feminine: ṣaʿbah, and the plural is ṣiʿāb.
وَأَصْعَبَ الْجَمَلُ: لَمْ يُرْكَبْ قَطُّ
And the camel became unridden: it was never ridden.
وَأَصْعَبَهُ صَاحِبُهُ: تَرَكَهُ وَأَعْفَاهُ مِنَ الرُّكُوبِ
And its owner made it unridden: he left it and exempted it from riding.
مَنْ كَانَ مُصْعَبًا فَلْيَرْجِعْ أَيْ مَنْ كَانَ بَعِيرُهُ صَعْبًا غَيْرَ مُنْقَادٍ وَلَا ذَلُولٍ
Whoever has an unridden camel should turn back, meaning whoever has a camel that is difficult, not submissive, and not tractable.
وَجَمَلٌ مُصْعَبٌ إِذَا لَمْ يَكُنْ مُنُوقًا، وَكَانَ مُحَرَّمَ الظَّهْرِ
And a camel is muṣʿab if it is not a riding camel and its back is forbidden [to ride].
وَالْمُصْعَبُ: الَّذِي لَمْ يَمَسَّهُ حَبْلٌ، وَلَمْ يُرْكَبْ
And the muṣʿab: the one that no rope has touched, and has not been ridden.
كَأَنَّ مُصَاعِيبَ، زَبَّ الرُّؤُوسِ، ... فِي دَارِ صِرْمٍ تَلَاقَى، مُرِيحًا
As if the difficult ones, with their heads raised, ... in a desolate land met, resting.
وَقَوْلُهُ: تَلَاقَى مُرِيحًا، إِنَّمَا ذُكِرَ عَلَى إِرَادَةِ الْقَطِيعِ
And his saying: met, resting, it was mentioned with the intention of the herd.
صِعَابِيبُ، وَهُمْ أَهْلُ الْأَنَابِيبِ
Ṣiʿābīb, and they are the people of the high places.
الصَّعَابِيبُ: جَمْعُ صَعْبُوبٍ، وَهُمُ الصِّعَابُ أَيِ الشَّدَائِدُ
Al-Ṣaʿābīb: plural of ṣaʿbūb, and they are the difficult ones, meaning hardships.
وَالصَّاعِبُ: مِنَ الْأَرْضِينَ ذَاتُ النَّقْلِ وَالْحِجَارَةِ تُحْرَثُ
And the ṣāʿib: from the lands, possessing stones and rocks that are plowed.
وَالْمُصْعَبُ: الْفَحْلُ، وَبِهِ سُمِّيَ الرَّجُلُ مُصْعَبًا
And the muṣʿab: the stud male, and by it, the man is named Muṣʿab.
وَرَجُلٌ مُصْعَبٌ: مُسَوَّدٌ، مِنْ ذَلِكَ
And a man is muṣʿab: a leader, from that.
وَالْمُصْعَبَانِ: مُصْعَبُ بْنُ الزُّبَيْرِ، وَابْنُهُ عِيسَى بْنُ مُصْعَبٍ
And the two Muṣʿabs: Muṣʿab ibn al-Zubayr, and his son ʿĪsā ibn Muṣʿab.
وَكَانَ ذُو الْقَرْنَيْنِ الْمُنْذِرُ بْنُ مَاءِ السَّمَاءِ يُلَقَّبُ بِالصَّعْبِ
And Dhul-Qarnayn, Al-Mundhir ibn Ma' al-Samā', was nicknamed Al-Sa'b.
وَعَقَبَةٌ صَعْبَةٌ إِذَا كَانَتْ شَاقَّةً
And a difficult pass if it is arduous.