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قلح

Root entry · 5 derived lemmas

This root primarily concerns the discoloration and decay of teeth, specifically a yellowish hue. It extends to describe something old, worn out, or even morally corrupt, drawing a parallel between physical decay and moral decline.

Derived headwords

القَلَحnoun
  1. 1.
    yellowish tooth discolorationboth

    A yellowing or discoloration of the teeth, often indicating decay or neglect.

  2. 2.
    moral corruptionclassical

    Figuratively, it refers to moral corruption or baseness, linked to the idea of decay.

قَلِحَverb
  1. 1.
    yellowishness in the teethboth

    yellowishness in the teeth

أَقْلَحadjective
  1. 1.
    one with yellowish teethboth

    one with yellowish teeth

يُقَلِّحُverb
  1. 1.
    to clean teethclassical

    To clean one's teeth, as in the idiom 'a stick that cleans its teeth'.

القُلْحُمadjective
  1. 1.
    very oldclassical

    The oldest or most aged of anything, particularly used for animals or things.

Parallel reading

القَلَحُ: صُفْرَةٌ في الأَسْنَانِ.
Al-Qalahu: yellowness in the teeth.
قَدْ بَنَى اللُّؤْمُ عَلَيْهِمْ بَيْتَهُ * وَفَشَا فِيهِمْ مَعَ اللُّؤْمِ القَلَحُ
Baseness has built its house upon them, and with baseness, al-Qalahu has spread among them.
تَقُولُ مِنْهُ: قَلِحَ الرَّجُلُ بِالكَسْرِ، فَهُوَ أَقْلَحُ.
You say from it: The man became qaliha (had yellow teeth), and he is aqlaḥu (having yellow teeth).
وَفِي المَثَلِ: " عُودٌ يُقَلِّحُ " أَيْ تَنْقَى أَسْنَانُهُ.
And in the proverb: 'A stick that cleans its teeth', meaning its teeth are cleaned.
وَهُوَ فِي مَذْهَبِهِ مِثْلُ مَرِضْتُ الرَّجُلَ، إِذَا قُمْتَ عَلَيْهِ فِي مَرَضِهِ، وَقَرَدْتُ البَعِيرَ: نَزَعْتَ عَنْهُ قِرَدَهُ، وَطَنَيْتُهُ، إِذَا عَالجْتَهُ مِنْ طِنَاهِ.
And it is in its pattern like 'I made the man sick', if you attend to him during his illness, and 'I removed the camel's halter': you removed its halter, and 'I treated him for his ailment', if you treated him for his ailment.
وَالقُلْحُمُ: المُسِنُّ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ، وَهُوَ مُلْحَقٌ بِجَرْدَحْلٍ، بِزِيَادَةِ مِيمٍ.
And al-Qulḥumu: the aged of everything, and it is an addition to jardahalu, with the addition of a mim.
قَدْ كُنْتُ قَبْلَ الكِبَرِ القُلْحُمِ
I was before old age, the extremely aged.
أَنَا ابْنُ أَوْسٍ حَيَّةٍ أَصْمَا * لَا ضَرْعَ السَّنِّ وَلَا قَلَحَمَا
I am the son of Aws, a deaf snake, neither weak in age nor extremely old.