← Back to Al-Sihah

كلى

Root entry · 12 derived lemmas

This root primarily concerns the kidney, its anatomy, and related medical conditions. It also extends to metaphorical uses for the lower part of things, and importantly, to dual demonstrative pronouns indicating totality or entirety.

Derived headwords

الكُلْيَةnoun
  1. 1.
    kidneyboth

    The well-known organ, the kidney.

  2. 2.
    membraneclassical

    A round membrane attached to the strap of a waterskin, sewn with the leather.

  3. 3.
    part of a bowclassical

    The part of a bow between the 'abhar (part of the bow near the string) and the liver.

  4. 4.
    lower part of a cloudclassical

    The lower part of a cloud.

الكُلْوَةnoun
  1. 1.
    kidneyclassical

    A variant linguistic form for the kidney.

كُلْيَتَانnoun
  1. 1.
    kidneysboth

    The two kidneys.

  2. 2.
    sides of an arrowheadclassical

    The parts to the right and left of the shaft of an arrow.

كُلَىnoun
  1. 1.
    kidneysboth

    Plural of 'kilya' (kidney).

  2. 2.
    lower part of a cloudclassical

    Plural of 'kilya' referring to the lower part of a cloud.

اِكْتَلَىverb
  1. 1.
    to have one's kidney struckclassical

    To be struck in the kidney.

مُكْتَلًىnoun
  1. 1.
    one whose kidney was struckclassical

    One whose kidney has been struck.

حُمْرُ الكُلَىadjective
  1. 1.
    emaciatedclassical

    Literally 'red-kidneyed', used metaphorically to describe emaciated sheep.

كِلَاparticle
  1. 1.
    for emphasizing two, similar to 'kull' for pluralsboth

    for emphasizing two, similar to 'kull' for plurals

كِلْتَاparticle
  1. 1.
    both (feminine)both

    A singular noun used to emphasize the dual, equivalent to 'both' when referring to two feminine nouns.

كِلَيْهِمَاparticle
  1. 1.
    both of them (masculine)both

    The dual pronoun form used when 'kila' is attached to a pronoun.

كِلْتَيْهِمَاparticle
  1. 1.
    both of them (feminine)both

    The dual pronoun form used when 'kilta' is attached to a pronoun.

كُلْوَىnoun
  1. 1.
    kidneyclassical

    A form related to the kidney, used in نسب (نسبة) or nisba constructions.

Parallel reading

الكلية معروفة، والكلوة لغة.
The kidney is known, and 'al-kulwah' is a linguistic variant.
والجمع كليات وكلى.
And the plural is 'kulliyyat' and 'kila'.
والكلية: جليدة مستديرة تحت عروة المزادة تخرز مع اأديم.
And the 'kilya' is a round membrane beneath the handle of the waterskin, sewn with the leather.
والكلية من القوس: ما بين الأبهر والكبد وهما كليتان.
And the 'kilya' of a bow is what is between the 'abhar and the liver, and they are two 'kilyatan'.
والكليتان: ما عن يمين نصل السهم وشماله.
And the two 'kilyatan' are what is to the right and left of the arrowhead.
وكلية السحاب: أسفله ; والجمع كلى.
And the 'kilya' of a cloud is its lower part; and the plural is 'kila'.
يقال: انبعجت كلاه.
It is said: 'Its lower part burst forth'.
وكليته فاكتلى، أي أصبت كليته.
And his kidney was struck, meaning 'you struck his kidney'.
والكلى: الذى أصيبت كليته.
And 'al-makla' is he whose kidney was struck.
وجاء فلان بغنمه حمر الكلى، أي مهازيل.
So-and-so came with his sheep, 'humr al-kila', meaning emaciated.
وكلا في تأكيد الاثنين نظير كل في المجموع، فهو اسم مفرد غير مثنى، فإذا ولي اسما ظاهرا كان في الرفع والنصب والخفض على حالة واحدة بالألف.
And 'kila' in confirming the dual is analogous to 'kull' for the collective; it is a singular noun, not dual. When it follows an explicit noun, it remains in the nominative, accusative, and genitive states uniformly with an 'alif'.
تقول: رأيت كلا الرجلين , وجاءني كلا الرجلين، ومررت بكلا الرجلين.
You say: 'I saw both of the two men', 'Both of the two men came to me', and 'I passed by both of the two men'.
فإذا اتصل بمضمر قلبت الألف ياء في موضع الجر والنصب فقلت: رأيت كليهما ومررت بكليهما، كما تقول عليهما وتبقى في الرفع على حالها.
And when it is connected to a pronoun, the 'alif' is inverted to a 'ya' in the accusative and genitive positions, so you say: 'I saw both of them' and 'I passed by both of them', just as you say 'alayhima, and it remains in the nominative in its original state.
وهو مثنى، وهو مأخوذ من كل فخففت اللام وزيدت الألف للتثنية، وكذلك كلتا للمؤنث.
And it is dual, and it is derived from 'kull', so the 'lam' was lightened and the 'alif' was added for duality, and likewise 'kilta' for the feminine.
في كلت رجليها سلامى واحده * كلتاهما مقرونة بزائده
In each of her two legs is a single bone * both of them joined with an extra one.
فثبت أنه اسم مفرد كمعى، إلا أنه وضع ليدل على التثنية، كما أن قولهم نحن اسم مفرد يدل على الاثنين فما فوقهما.
So it is established that it is a singular noun like 'ma'a', except that it is used to indicate duality, just as their saying 'nahnu' is a singular noun that indicates two or more.
كلا يومى أمامة يوم صد * وإن لم نأتها إلا لماما
Both of Umamah's days are days of turning away * even if we only visit them briefly.
إلا أنها لما كانت لا تنفك من الاضافة شبهت بعلى ولدى، فجعلت بالياء مع المضمر في النصب والجر، لان على لا تقع إلا منصوبة أو مجرورة، ولا تستعمل مرفوعة، فبقيت كلا في الرفع على أصلها مع المضمر، لانها لم تشبه بعلى في هذه الحال.
Except that because it is inseparable from being in an 'idafa' construction, it was likened to 'ala' and 'lada'. So it was made with a 'ya' when attached to a pronoun in the accusative and genitive, because 'ala' is only ever accusative or genitive and is not used in the nominative. Thus, 'kila' remained in the nominative in its original form when attached to a pronoun, because it was not likened to 'ala' in this case.
والف في كلتا التى للتأنيث فإن سيبويه يقول: ألفها للتأنيث والتاء بدل من لام الفعل وهى واو، والاصل كلوا، وإنما أبدلت تاء لان في التاء علم التأنيث، والالف في كلتا قد تصير ياء مع المضمر فتخرج عن علم التأنيث، فصار في إبدال الواو تاء تأكيد للتأنيث.
As for the 'alif' in 'kilta' which is for the feminine, Sibawayh says: its 'alif' is for femininity, and the 'ta' is a substitute for the 'lam' of the verb, which is a 'waw'. The original was 'kiluwa'. The 'ta' was substituted because the 'ta' is a sign of femininity. The 'alif' in 'kilta' can become a 'ya' when attached to a pronoun, thus losing its sign of femininity. So, substituting the 'waw' with a 'ta' became an emphasis for femininity.
وقال أبو عمر الجرمى: التاء ملحقة، والالف لام الفعل، وتقديرها عنده فعتل.
And Abu 'Amr al-Jarmi said: The 'ta' is appended, and the 'alif' is the 'lam' of the verb, and its structure according to him is 'fa'atal'.
فلما قالوا كلوى وأسقطوا التاء دل على أنهم أجروها مجرى التاء التى في أخت، التى إذا نسبت إليها قلت أخوى.
So when they said 'kulwi' and omitted the 'ta', it indicated that they treated it like the 'ta' in 'ukht' (sister), to which you form the nisba by saying 'ukhawi'.