عسا

Root entry · 30 derived lemmas

The root عسا primarily denotes aging, growing old, and becoming stiff or hardened, whether referring to people, objects, or even the night. It also extends to meanings of approaching, nearing, and hoping or expecting, particularly in the context of the particle 'عسى'.

Derived headwords

عسا الشَّيْخُ يَعْسُو عَسْوًا وعُسُوًّا وعَسِيًّاverb

1.
to grow oldclassical
The Sheikh grew old, similar to the verb عَتِيَ (to become old and stubborn).

عَتَا يَعْتُو عَتْوًاverb

1.
to grow old and stubbornclassical
To become old and stubborn, a meaning also attributed to the root عسا.

عَسَا عَسَاءٌnoun

1.
agingclassical
A masdar (verbal noun) for the verb عسا, signifying the process of aging.

عَسْوَةٌnoun

1.
agingclassical
Another masdar (verbal noun) for the verb عسا, indicating aging.

عَسِيٌّnoun

1.
agingclassical
A masdar (verbal noun) for the verb عسا, denoting aging.

عَسَا يَدُهُ تَعْسُو عَسْوًاverb

1.
to become rough/callousedclassical
His hand became rough and calloused due to work.

عَسَا النَّبَاتُ عَسْوًاverb

1.
to become thick and strongclassical
The plant became thick, strong, and tough.

عَسِيَ يَعْسَى عَسَىverb

1.
to become thick and strongclassical
An alternative conjugation for the plant becoming thick, strong, and tough.

عَسَا العُودُ يَعْسُو عَسَاءًverb

1.
to become dry and hardclassical
The wood became dry, hard, and stiff.

عَسَاءٌnoun

1.
dryness and hardnessclassical
The masdar for the verb عسا when referring to wood becoming dry and hard.

عَسَا اللَّيْلُverb

1.
to become intensely darkclassical
The night became intensely dark.

العاسِيadjective

1.
harsh, roughclassical
Similar to العاتِي (harsh, rough), referring to someone or something rough and unrefined.

العاسِيnoun

1.
spadix of a date clusterclassical
The spadix (flower stalk) of a date cluster, according to the language of the Banu Harith ibn Ka'b.

عَسَا الشَّيْءُ يَعْسُو عَسْوًا وعَسَاءًverb

1.
to become dry and hardclassical
The thing became dry, hard, and stiff.

العَسَاnoun

1.
unripe datesclassical
Unripe dates (balah).

العَسْوُnoun

1.
beeswaxclassical
Beeswax, in some dialects.

عَسَىparticle

1.
it is hoped, perhapsboth
A particle expressing hope, expectation, or possibility, often followed by 'أن' and a verb.
2.
to be close toclassical
To be close to doing something, similar to 'kāda' (to be about to).

عَسِيَ أنْ يَفْعَلَverb

1.
to be close to doingclassical
I was close to doing something; this usage is considered more elevated.

عَسَى الغُوَيْرُ أَبْؤُسًاsentence

1.
The Ghuyayr became miserableclassical
A rare idiomatic expression where 'أبؤسا' (miserable) is placed as the predicate, similar to 'kāda'.

عَسَى زَيْدٌ يَنْطَلِقُsentence

1.
Zayd might set offclassical
An instance where 'عسى' is followed by a verb without 'أن', similar to 'kāda'.

عَسَىparticle

1.
obligatory (from God)classical
When used from God, it signifies an obligation or certainty.
2.
doubt, conjecture (from humans)classical
When used from humans, it signifies doubt, conjecture, or mere hope.

عَسَىparticle

1.
likely, fitclassical
It is likely or fitting that someone does something.

أَعَسَّهُ بِهِverb

1.
how fitting it is for himclassical
An expression similar to 'أحر به' (how fitting it is for him), indicating suitability.

عَسٍparticle

1.
likely, fitclassical
A form of 'عسى' used in expressions like 'عس بذلك' (he is fit for that), similar to 'حر'.

مَعْسَاةٌnoun

1.
predisposition, suitabilityclassical
A predisposition or suitability for something, used for masculine, feminine, singular, and plural.

مِعْسِيَّةٌnoun

1.
a ewe whose milk is uncertainclassical
A ewe about which there is doubt whether she has milk or not.

مِعْسَاءُ الجَوَارِيnoun

1.
a pubescent girlclassical
A young girl who has reached puberty, whose blood flow is likened to that of a woman who has not used a menstrual pad.

الأَعْسَاءُnoun

1.
hard, solid provisionsclassical
Hard and solid provisions, with the singular being 'عاس'.

العَسَسُnoun

1.
hard provisionsclassical
Hard provisions, possibly a variant or plural of 'عساء'.

أَبُو العَسَاname

1.
Abu al-Asaclassical
A kunya (patronymic) of a man named Khallad, who was in charge of the police in Basra.

Parallel reading

عسا الشيخ يعسو عسوا وعسوا وعسيا مثل عتيا وعساء وعسوة وعسي عسى، كله: كبر مثل عتي.

The Sheikh grew old, becoming old and stiff, like 'atiyya, and 'asa', 'asā', 'aswah, and 'asi, all meaning to grow old like 'ati.

ويقال للشيخ إذا ولى وكبر: عتا يعتو عتيا، وعسا يعسو مثله.

And it is said of an old man when he has passed his prime and grown old: 'ata' (he grew old and stubborn), and 'asa' (he grew old), meaning the same.

قد علمت السنة كلها غير أني لا أدري أكان رسول الله، صلى الله عليه وسلم، يقرأ من الكبر عتيا أو عسيا فما أدري أهذا من أصل الكتاب أم سطره بعض الأفاضل.

I know the entire Sunnah, except I do not know if the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, recited from old age 'atiyya or 'asiyya, and I do not know if this is from the original book or if some scholar wrote it.

لما أتيت عمي بالسلاح وكان شيخا قد عسا أو عشا ؛ عسا، بالسين المهملة، أي كبر وأسن من عسا القضيب إذا يبس، وبالمعجمة أي قل بصره وضعف.

When I brought weapons to my uncle, and he was an old man who had grown old or whose sight had weakened; 'asa', with an unpointed sin, means he grew old and aged, like a stick that dries out, and with a pointed sin, it means his sight diminished and weakened.

وعست يده تعسو عسوا: غلظت من عمل؛ قال ابن سيده: وهذا هو الصواب في مصدر عسا.

And his hand became rough ('asa) through work; Ibn Sidah said: And this is the correct masdar for 'asa.

وعسا النبات عسوا: غلظ واشتد؛ وفيه لغة أخرى عسي يعسى عسى؛ وأنشد:

And the plant became thick and strong ('asa); and there is another dialect 'asiya ya'sa 'asa'; and he recited:

يهوون عن أركان عز أدرما، ... عن صامل عاس، إذا ما اصلخمما

They fall from the pillars of might, ... from a strong, dry camel, when it becomes stiff.

والعساء مصدر عسا العود يعسو عساء، والقساء مصدر قسا القلب يقسو قساء.

And al-'asa' is the masdar of 'asa al-'awd ya'su 'asa', and al-qasa' is the masdar of qasa al-qalb yaqsu qasa'.

وعسا الليل: اشتدت ظلمته؛ قال:

And the night became intensely dark ('asa); he said:

وأظعن الليل، إذا الليل عسا والغين أعرف.

And the night moved on, when the night became dark, and al-ghayn is more known.

والعاسي مثل العاتي: وهو الجافي.

And al-'asi is like al-'ati: which is the rough one.

وعسا الشيء يعسو عسوا وعساء، ممدود أي يبس واشتد وصلب.

And the thing became dry and hard ('asa), elongated, meaning it dried, intensified, and hardened.

والعسا، مقصورا: البلح «5» والعسو: الشمع في بعض اللغات.

And al-'asa, shortened, is the unripe dates, and al-'asw is the beeswax in some languages.

عسى زيد أن يخرج، وعست فلانة أن تخرج، فزيد فاعل عسى وأن يخرج مفعولها «6»، وهو بمعنى الخروج إلا أن خبره لا يكون اسما، لا يقال عسى زيد منطلقا.

Zayd might go out, and so-and-so might go out. Zayd is the subject of 'asa, and 'an yakhruja is its object, meaning to go out, except that its predicate is not a noun; it is not said 'asa Zayd munṭaliqan'.

عسيت أن أفعل كذا وعسيت قاربت، والأولى أعلى، قال سيبويه: لا يقال عسيت الفعل ولا عسيت للفعل، قال: اعلم أنهم لا يستعملون عسى فعلك، استغنوا بأن تفعل عن ذلك كما استغنى أكثر العرب بعسى عن أن يقولوا عسيا وعسوا، وبلو أنه ذاهب عن لو ذهابه، ومع هذا أنهم لم يستعملوا المصدر في هذا الباب كما لم يستعملوا الاسم الذي في موضعه يفعل في عسى وكاد، يعني أنهم لا يقولون عسى فاعلا ولا كاد فاعلا فترك هذا من كلامهم للاستغناء بالشيء عن الشيء؛

I was close to doing such-and-such, and I was close to it, and the former is more elevated. Sibawayh said: It is not said 'asaytu al-fi'la nor 'asaytu lil-fi'li. He said: Know that they do not use 'asa fa'alaka, they suffice with 'an taf'ala for that, just as most Arabs suffice with 'asa instead of saying 'asayyan and 'asawwan, and they knew that he was going to go. And with this, they did not use the masdar in this chapter, just as they did not use the noun in its place of the verb in 'asa and kāda, meaning they do not say 'asa fā'ilan nor kāda fā'ilan, so this was left out of their speech due to sufficiency.

عسى أن تفعل كقولك دنا أن تفعل، وقالوا: عسى الغوير أبؤسا أي كان الغوير أبؤسا؛ حكاه سيبويه؛ قال الجوهري: أما قولهم عسى الغوير أبؤسا فشاذ نادر، وضع أبؤسا موضع الخبر، وقد يأتي في الأمثال ما لا يأتي في غيرها، وربما شبهوا عسى بكاد واستعملوا الفعل بعده بغير أن فقالوا عسى زيد ينطلق؛ قال سماعة بن أسول النعامي:

'Asā an taf'ala is like 'danā an taf'ala' (it approached that you do). And they said: 'Asā al-Ghuyayr ab'usan, meaning al-Ghuyayr became miserable; Sibawayh narrated this. Al-Jawhari said: As for their saying 'Asā al-Ghuyayr ab'usan, it is rare and anomalous. Ab'usan is placed in the position of the predicate, and what comes in proverbs does not come elsewhere. And sometimes they likened 'asa to kāda and used the verb after it without 'an, so they said 'asa Zayd yanṭaliqu; Samā'ah ibn Asūl al-Nu'āmi said:

عسى الله يغني، عن بلاد ابن قادر، ... بمنهمر جون الرباب سكوب

May Allah enrich us, from the lands of Ibn Qādir, ... with a pouring downpour of dark clouds.

عسى تجري مجرى لعل، تقول عسيت وعسيتما وعسيتم وعست المرأة وعستا وعسين؛ يتكلم بها على فعل ماض وأميت ما سواه من وجوه فعله، لا يقال يعسى ولا مفعول له ولا فاعل.

'Asā functions like 'la'alla', you say 'asaytu, 'asaytumā, 'asaytum, and the woman 'asat, 'astā, 'asayna; it is spoken in the past tense, and other forms of its verb are made passive. It is not said 'ya'sā', nor is there a passive participle or active participle.

عسى ربه إن طلقكن أن يبدله ؛ قال أبو عبيدة: عسى من الله إيجاب فجاءت على إحدى اللغتين لأن عسى في كلامهم رجاء ويقين؛ قال ابن سيده: وقيل عسى كلمة تكون للشك واليقين؛ قال الأزهري: وقد قال ابن مقبل فجعله يقينا أنشده أبو عبيد:

'Asā her Lord, if He divorces you, He will replace them with others.' Abu 'Ubaydah said: 'Asā from Allah is an obligation, so it came in one of the two dialects because 'asa in their speech is hope and certainty. Ibn Sidah said: And it is said that 'asa is a word that can be for doubt and certainty. Al-Azhari said: And Ibn Muqbil said, making it certainty, and Abu 'Ubayd recited:

ظني بهم كعسى، وهم بتنوفة، ... يتنازعون جوائز الأمثال

My guess about them is like 'asa, and they are in a desert, ... competing for the prizes of proverbs.

وهو عسي أن يفعل كذا وعس أي خليق؛ قال ابن الأعرابي: ولا يقال عسى.

And he is likely ('asi) to do such-and-such, and 'as means fitting; Ibn al-A'rābi said: And 'asa is not said.

وما أعساه وأعس به وأعس بأن يفعل ذلك: كقولك أحر به، وعلى هذا وجه الفارسي قراءة نافع: فهل عسيتم ، بكسر السين، قال: لأنهم قد قالوا هو عس بذلك وما أعساه وأعس به، فقوله عس يقوي عسيتم، ألا ترى أن عس كحر وشج؟

And 'amā 'asāhu wa 'asa bihi wa 'asa bi-an yaf'ala dhālika: is like your saying 'aḥir bihi' (how fitting it is for him). And on this basis is the interpretation of al-Fārisī of Nafi''s reading: 'Fa hal 'asaytum', with a kasra on the sin. He said: Because they have said 'huwa 'asun bi-dhālika' (he is fitting for that) and 'amā 'asāhu wa 'asa bihi'. So his saying 'as' strengthens 'asaytum. Do you not see that 'as is like 'ḥarr' and 'shajj'?

فإن أسند الفعل إلى ظاهر فقياس عسيتم أن يقول فيه عسي زيد مثل رضي زيد، وإن لم يقله فسائغ له أن يأخذ باللغتين فيستعمل إحداهما في موضع دون الأخرى كما فعل ذلك في غيرها.

If the verb is attributed to an explicit subject, then the analogy for 'asaytum is to say 'asi Zayd, like 'aḍiya Zayd. And if he does not say it, it is permissible for him to take both dialects and use one in one place and the other in another, as he did in other cases.

قال النحويون يقال عسى ولا يقال عسي.

The grammarians said: 'Asā is said, and 'asi is not said.

واتفق القراء أجمعون على فتح السين من قوله عسيتم إلا ما جاء عن نافع أنه كان يقرأ فهل عسيتم ، بكسر السين، وكان يقرأ: عسى ربكم أن يهلك عدوكم ، فدل موافقته القراء على عسى على أن الصواب في قوله عسيتم فتح السين.

And all the reciters agreed on the fath of the sin in 'asaytum, except for what came from Nafi', that he used to recite 'Fa hal 'asaytum', with a kasra on the sin. And he used to recite: 'Asā rabbukum an yuhlik 'aduwwakum'. So his agreement with the reciters on 'asa indicates that the correct pronunciation for 'asaytum is the fath of the sin.

ويقال عسيت أن أفعل ذلك وعسيت، بالفتح والكسر، وقرئ بهما فهل عسيتم وعسيتم.

And it is said 'asaytu an af'ala dhālika and 'asaytu, with fath and kasra, and both were recited: 'Fa hal 'asaytum' and 'asaytum'.

وهذا الأمر معساة منه أي مخلقة.

And this matter is a predisposition ('masāh') from him, meaning destined.

وإنه لمعساة أن يفعل ذاك: كقولك محراة، يكون للمذكر والمؤنث والاثنين والجمع بلفظ واحد.

And indeed, he is likely ('masāh') to do that: like your saying 'miḥrāh', it is used for masculine, feminine, dual, and plural with one form.

والمعسية: الناقة التي يشك فيها أبها لبن أم لا، والجمع المعسيات؛ قال الشاعر:

And al-mi'siyyah: is the ewe about which there is doubt whether she has milk or not, and the plural is al-mi'siyyāt; the poet said:

إذا المعسيات منعن الصبوح، ... خب جريك بالمحصن جريه: وكيله ورسوله، وقيل: الجري الخادم، والمحصن ما أحصن وادخر من الطعام للجدب؛

If the doubtful ewes are prevented from milking in the morning, ... Khabb Jarīk with al-Muḥaṣṣan, his messenger: his agent and his messenger, and it is said: al-jarī is the servant, and al-muḥaṣṣan is what is stored and saved of food for drought;

تركته كمعساء الجواري بلا خبط ولا نبك، ولكن ... يدا بيد فها عيثي جعار

I left him like a pubescent girl, without struggle or disturbance, but ... hand to hand, here is my destruction.

والمعساء من الجواري: المراهقة التي يظن من رآها أنها قد توضأت.

And al-mi'sā' from the young girls: the pubescent one, whom whoever sees her thinks she has performed ablution.

من ذلك الأدنون جمع أدنى والمصطفون والموسون والعيسون، وفي النصب والخفض الأدنين والمصطفين.

From that are al-adna, the plural of adnā, and al-muṣṭafawna, al-mawsūna, and al-'aysūna, and in the accusative and genitive, al-adnayna and al-muṣṭafayna.

والأعساء: الأرزان الصلبة، واحدها عاس.

And al-a'sā': are the hard, solid provisions, its singular is 'ās.

أفضل الصدقة المنيحة تغدو بعساء وتروح بعساء ، وقال: قال الخطابي قال الحميدي العساء العس، قال: ولم أسمعه إلا في هذا الحديث.

The best charity is the gift of milk-giving animals; it goes out in the morning with hard provisions and returns in the evening with hard provisions. And he said: Al-Khaṭṭābi said Al-Ḥumaydi said: Al-'asā' is al-'ass. He said: And I have not heard it except in this hadith.

والحميدي من أهل اللسان، قال: ورواه أبو خيثمة ثم قال بعساس كان أجود «1»، وعلى هذا يكون جمع العس أبدل الهمزة من السين، وقال الزمخشري: العساء والعساس جمع عس.

And Al-Ḥumaydi is a linguist. He said: And Abu Khaythama narrated it and then said 'bi-'asāsin was better', and on this basis, the plural of 'ass would be by substituting the hamza for the sin. And Al-Zamakhshari said: Al-'asā' and al-'asās are plurals of 'ass.

أبو العسا: رجل؛ قال الأزهري: كان خلاد صاحب شرطة البصرة يكنى أبا العسا.

Abu al-'Asā: a man; Al-Azhari said: Khallād, the head of the Basra police, was known by the kunya Abu al-'Asā.