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عقص

Root entry · 28 derived lemmas

The root عقص (ʿaqṣ) primarily relates to twisting, coiling, or knotting, especially hair. It extends to describe things that are twisted or bent, such as horns, arrows, or even a person's character, and can metaphorically refer to stinginess or a difficult disposition.

Derived headwords

عَقَصَverb
  1. 1.
    to twist hairboth

    To twist or braid hair, forming it into coils or twists.

  2. 2.
    to twistboth

    To twist or coil something, causing it to become bent or convoluted.

  3. 3.
    to be stingyclassical

    To be miserly or tight-fisted with one's wealth.

  4. 4.
    to be stubbornclassical

    To be difficult in disposition or stubborn.

  5. 5.
    to be crookedclassical

    To be bent or crooked, referring to an arrow or a horn.

عقص شعره يعقصه، من حد ضرب، عقصا: ضفره — He twisted his hair, twisting it, from the pattern of ḍaraba, ʿaqṣan: he braided it.
عَقْصnoun
  1. 1.
    braidingboth

    The act of twisting or braiding hair.

  2. 2.
    twistboth

    A twist or coil, especially in hair.

  3. 3.
    stinginessclassical

    Miserliness or a tight-fisted nature.

  4. 4.
    crookednessclassical

    The state of being bent or crooked.

  5. 5.
    a type of sandclassical

    A type of sand that is coiled or knotted, forming difficult terrain.

عقصا: ضفره — ʿaqṣan: he braided it.
العقص: خرم مفاعلتن في زحاف الوافر بعد العصب — Al-ʿaqṣ: a defect in the meter Mufāʿalatun in the meter Wāfir after al-ʿaṣb.
عَقْصَةnoun
  1. 1.
    braidboth

    A braid or twist of hair.

  2. 2.
    coilboth

    A coil or twist in hair or other material.

  3. 3.
    knot of a hornclassical

    The knot or bend in a horn.

  4. 4.
    a type of sand formationclassical

    A formation of sand that is twisted or coiled.

لها عقص — She has braids.
عقصة القرن، بالضم: عقدته — ʿuqqat al-qarn, with damma: its knot.
عَقِيصَةnoun
  1. 1.
    braidboth

    A braid or twist of hair, similar to an 'uqqah.

  2. 2.
    coiled hairboth

    Hair that has been twisted or coiled.

وفي صفته صلى الله عليه وسلم: إن انفرقت عقيصته فرق، وإلا تركها — And in his description, peace be upon him: if his braid came undone, he would part it, otherwise he would leave it.
فأخرجت الكتاب من عقاصها أي ضفائرها، جمع عقصة أو عقيصة — So she took the letter out of her braids, meaning her plaits, the plural of 'uqqah or 'aqīṣah.
عَقِيصadjective
  1. 1.
    twistedclassical

    Twisted or coiled, referring to hair or other things.

  2. 2.
    ill-temperedclassical

    Of bad character, twisted in disposition.

والعقيص: السيئ الخلق الملتويه — And al-ʿaqīṣ: the ill-tempered, the twisted one.
عَقَّاصnoun
  1. 1.
    string for braidsboth

    A string used to tie the ends of braids or hair twists.

  2. 2.
    a type of combclassical

    A tool used by women to arrange their hair, resembling a comb or a thorn.

  3. 3.
    a spiral in the stomachclassical

    A spiral or fold in the stomach of a sheep.

العقاص، ككتاب: خيط يشد به أطراف الذوائب — Al-ʿiqāṣ, like kitāb: a thread with which the ends of braids are tied.
العقاص، بالكسر: الدوارة التي في بطن الشاة — Al-ʿiqāṣ, with kasr: the spiral that is in the stomach of a sheep.
مَعْقُوصadjective
  1. 1.
    twistedboth

    Twisted or coiled, especially referring to hair.

الشعر المعقوص، وهو نحو من المضفور — The twisted hair, which is similar to braided hair.
مِعْقَصnoun
  1. 1.
    crooked arrowclassical

    An arrow that is bent or crooked.

  2. 2.
    bent arrow shaftclassical

    The part of an arrow shaft that remains after the tip breaks off and is straightened.

والمعقص كمنبر: السهم المعوج — And al-miʿqaṣ, like minbar: the crooked arrow.
قال الأصمعي: المعقص: ما ينكسر نصله فيبقى سنخه في السهم — Al-Aṣmaʿī said: Al-miʿqaṣ: what its tip breaks off and its base remains in the arrow.
مِعْقَاصnoun
  1. 1.
    ill-tempered slave girlclassical

    A slave girl of bad character, worse than another described as 'maʿfāṣ.

  2. 2.
    crooked-horned sheepclassical

    A sheep whose horns are crooked or bent.

قال ابن الأعرابي: المعقاص من الجواري: السيئة الخلق — Ibn al-Aʿrābī said: Al-miʿqāṣ among slave girls: ill-tempered.
المعقاص أيضا: الشاة المعوجة القرن — Al-miʿqāṣ also: the sheep with crooked horns.
أَعْقَصadjective
  1. 1.
    crooked-horned (male goat)both

    A male goat whose horns are twisted around its ears.

  2. 2.
    bent fingersclassical

    Having fingers that are twisted or curled.

  3. 3.
    recessed teethclassical

    Having teeth that are set back or twisted inwards.

  4. 4.
    stingyclassical

    Miserly or tight-fisted.

والأعقص من التيوس: ما التوى قرناه على أذنيه من خلقه — And al-aʿqaṣ among male goats: one whose horns twist around its ears naturally.
قال ابن عباد: الأعقص: الذي تلوت أصابعه بعضها على بعض — Ibn ʿAbbād said: Al-aʿqaṣ: one whose fingers are twisted over each other.
عَقْصَاءadjective
  1. 1.
    crooked-horned (female goat)both

    A female goat whose horns are twisted around its ears.

ليس فيها عقصاء ولا جلحاء — There is no crooked-horned nor bald one among them.
عَقِيصَىname
  1. 1.
    a kunyaclassical

    A kunya (patronymic or nickname) for Abu Sa'id, a Tabi'i.

عقيصى، مقصورا، لقب أبي سعيد، دينار التيمي التابعي، مشهور — ʿAqīṣā, shortened: the title of Abu Sa'id, Dīnār al-Taimī, the Tabi'i, famous.
عَقْصnoun
  1. 1.
    a metrical defectclassical

    A specific metrical defect in Arabic poetry called 'al-ʿaqṣ'.

العقص، محركة: خرم مفاعلتن في زحاف الوافر بعد العصب — Al-ʿaqṣ, with harakah: a defect in Mufāʿalatun in the meter Wāfir after al-ʿaṣb.
عَقْصnoun
  1. 1.
    compact sandclassical

    A type of sand that is dense and difficult to traverse.

العقص، ككتف: رمل منعقد — Al-ʿaqṣ, like katif: compact sand.
عَقْصَةnoun
  1. 1.
    a sand formationclassical

    A formation of sand that twists and turns upon itself.

العقصة من الرمل: مثل السلسلة — Al-ʿuqqah of sand: like a chain.
عَقْصnoun
  1. 1.
    stomach liningclassical

    The lining of the stomach, specifically the rumen of a ruminant animal.

قال ابن فارس: العقص: عنق الكرش — Ibn Fāris said: Al-ʿaqṣ: the neck of the rumen.
عَقَصَverb
  1. 1.
    to be stingyclassical

    To be stingy or miserly.

وقد عقص، كفرح، عقصا — And he was stingy, as in faraḥa, ʿaqṣan.
عَقَصَverb
  1. 1.
    to be stubbornclassical

    To be stubborn or difficult.

وعقص أمره، إذا لواه فلبسه — And his affair was twisted, meaning he became entangled in it.
عَقَصَverb
  1. 1.
    to be stingyclassical

    To be stingy or tight-fisted.

والأعقص: البخيل، وهو مجاز — And al-aʿqaṣ: the stingy, and this is metaphorical.
عَقَصَverb
  1. 1.
    to be stubbornclassical

    To be stubborn or difficult in character.

العقص: الألوى الصعب الأخلاق — Al-ʿaqṣ: the twisted, difficult-tempered.
عَقَصَverb
  1. 1.
    to be stingyclassical

    To be stingy or to hold back.

العقص: إمساك اليد بخلا — Al-ʿaqṣ: holding back the hand out of stinginess.
عَقَصَverb
  1. 1.
    to be stubborn (animal)classical

    To be stubborn or to refuse to move, said of a mount.

وعقصت علي الدابة، كفرح: حرنت — And the mount became stubborn with me, as in faraḥa: it refused to move.
عَقُوصnoun
  1. 1.
    dyed wool threadsclassical

    Threads spun from wool, dyed black, used by women to adorn their hair.

والعقوص، بالضم: خيوط تفتل من صوف وتصبغ بالسواد — And al-ʿuqūṣ, with damma: threads spun from wool and dyed black.
عَقَصَverb
  1. 1.
    to tie hairboth

    To tie one's hair at the nape of the neck.

وعقصت شعرها تعقصه عقصا: شدته في قفاها — And she tied her hair, tying it, ʿaqṣan: she secured it at the nape of her neck.
عَقَصَverb
  1. 1.
    to complicateclassical

    To complicate or make something difficult to understand or resolve.

وعقص أمره، إذا لواه فلبسه — And his affair was twisted, meaning he became entangled in it.
عَقِيصَاءnoun
  1. 1.
    small stomachclassical

    A small stomach, specifically a smaller rumen attached to the larger one.

إن العقيصاء كمريطاء: كرشة صغيرة مقرونة بالكرش الكبرى — Indeed, al-ʿaqīṣāʾ, like mirīṭāʾ: a small rumen attached to the larger rumen.
عَقْنَقَصَةnoun
  1. 1.
    small creatureclassical

    A small crawling creature or insect.

العقنقصة، بالفتح، كعكنكعة وخبعثنة: دويبة — Al-ʿaqnaqaṣah, with fatḥah, like ʿaknakʿah and khabaʿthnah: a small creature.
مُعَاقَصَةnoun
  1. 1.
    struggleclassical

    A struggle or wrestling, similar to 'muʿāzaṣah'.

المعاقصة: المعازة — Al-muʿāqaṣah: the struggle.

Parallel reading

عقص شعره يعقصه، من حد ضرب، عقصا: ضفره
He twisted his hair, twisting it, from the pattern of ḍaraba, ʿaqṣan: he braided it.
قال الجوهري: قال أبو عبيد. فلهذا قول النساء: لها عقص.
Al-Jawharī said: Abū ʿUbayd said. For this reason, women say: She has braids.
ومن الحديث: لا تصل وأنت عاقص شعرك.
And from the hadith: Do not pray while you are twisting your hair.
وفي صفته صلى الله عليه وسلم: إن انفرقت عقيصته فرق، وإلا تركها.
And in his description, peace be upon him: if his braid came undone, he would part it, otherwise he would leave it.
قال ابن الأثير: العقيصة: الشعر المعقوص، وهو نحو من المضفور.
Ibn al-Athīr said: Al-ʿaqīṣah: the twisted hair, which is similar to braided hair.
قال الليث: العقص: أن تأخذ المرأة كل خصلة من شعر فتلويها، ثم تعقدها حتى يبقى فيها التواء، ثم ترسلها، فكل خصلة عقيصة.
Al-Layth said: Al-ʿaqṣ: is for a woman to take each lock of hair, twist it, then tie it until it remains twisted, then let it go; so each lock is an 'aqīṣah.
وجاء في حديثه: إن صدق ذو العقيصتين ليدخلن الجنة.
And in his hadith it came: If the one with two braids speaks truthfully, he will enter Paradise.
العقاص، ككتاب: خيط يشد به أطراف الذوائب.
Al-ʿiqāṣ, like kitāb: a thread with which the ends of braids are tied.
وفي حديث حاطب، رضي الله تعالى عنه فأخرجت الكتاب من عقاصها أي ضفائرها، جمع عقصة أو عقيصة.
And in the hadith of Ḥāṭib, may God be pleased with him, so she took the letter out of her braids, meaning her plaits, the plural of 'uqqah or 'aqīṣah.
قال حميد بن ثور، رضي الله تعالى عنه، يصف بقرة: (وهي تأيا بسرعوفين قد تخذت ... من الكعانب في نصليهما عقصا)
Ḥamīd ibn Thawr, may God be pleased with him, said, describing a cow: (And she was heading towards two horns that had taken... knots from the bends in their tips).
والمعقص كمنبر: السهم المعوج، كذا في الصحاح وأنشد:
And al-miʿqaṣ, like minbar: the crooked arrow, as stated in al-Ṣiḥāḥ, and he recited:
قال الأصمعي: المعقص: ما ينكسر نصله فيبقى سنخه في السهم، فيخرج ويضرب حتى يطول، ويرد إلى موضعه ولا يسد مسده، لأنه دقق وطول.
Al-Aṣmaʿī said: Al-miʿqaṣ: is what its tip breaks off and its base remains in the arrow, so it is pulled out and struck until it lengthens, and returned to its place and does not fulfill its purpose, because it was thinned and lengthened.
قال ابن الأعرابي: المعقاص من الجواري: السيئة الخلق إلا أنها أسوأ من المعفاص، بالفاء، وأشرس.
Ibn al-Aʿrābī said: Al-miʿqāṣ among slave girls: ill-tempered, except that she is worse than al-miʿfāṣ, with faʾ, and more fierce.
والأعقص من التيوس: ما التوى قرناه على أذنيه من خلقه، وهي عقصاء.
And al-aʿqaṣ among male goats: one whose horns twist around its ears naturally, and she is 'aqṣāʾ.
ومن حديث مانع الزكاة فتطؤه بأظلافها، ليس فيها عقصاء ولا جلحاء.
And from the hadith of the one who prevents zakāh, so it is trampled by its hooves, there is no crooked-horned nor bald one among them.
قال ابن عباد: الأعقص: الذي تلوت أصابعه بعضها على بعض.
Ibn ʿAbbād said: Al-aʿqaṣ: one whose fingers are twisted over each other.
وقال غيره. الأعقص: الذي دخلت ثناياه في فيه والتوت.
And others said: Al-aʿqaṣ: one whose incisors have entered his mouth and are twisted.
العقص، محركة: خرم مفاعلتن في زحاف الوافر بعد العصب، أي إسكان الخامس من مفاعلتن فيصير مفاعيلن بنقله، ثم تحذف النون منه مع الخرم، فيصير الجزء مفعول، وبيته:
Al-ʿaqṣ, with harakah: a defect in Mufāʿalatun in the meter Wāfir after al-ʿaṣb, meaning the silencing of the fifth of Mufāʿalatun, making it Mufāʿīlun by its transfer, then the nun is deleted from it with the defect, so the part becomes Mafʿūlun, and its verse is:
العقص، ككتف: رمل منعقد. وفي بعض نسخ الصحاح: متعقد، لا طريق فيه، قال الراجز:)
Al-ʿaqṣ, like katif: compact sand. And in some copies of al-Ṣiḥāḥ: tangled, with no path through it, the rajaz poet said:)
وقيل: العقص من الرمل كالعقد.
And it was said: Al-ʿaqṣ of sand is like a knot.
قال ابن فارس: العقص: عنق الكرش
Ibn Fāris said: Al-ʿaqṣ: the neck of the rumen
من المجاز: العقص أيضا البخيل، كما في الصحاح، زاد: والسيئ الخلق.
From metaphor: Al-ʿaqṣ also means the stingy, as in al-Ṣiḥāḥ, he added: and ill-tempered.
وقال غيره: البخيل الكز الضيق، وقد عقص، كفرح، عقصا.
And others said: The stingy, the tight, the narrow, and he was stingy, as in faraḥa, ʿaqṣan.
العقص: الألوى الصعب الأخلاق، تشبيها بالقرن الملتوي كالعيقص، كحيدر وسكيت، وكذلك الأعقص، الثانية عن ابن دريد، قال: وأحسبه مأخوذا من العقص، وهو انقباض اليد عن الخير.
Al-ʿaqṣ: the twisted, difficult-tempered, by analogy with the twisted horn like al-ʿayqaṣ, like ḥaydar and sukkīt, and likewise al-aʿqaṣ, the second is from Ibn Durayd, he said: And I think it is derived from al-ʿaqṣ, which is the hand's contraction from doing good.
إن العقيصاء كمريطاء: كرشة صغيرة مقرونة بالكرش الكبرى.
Indeed, al-ʿaqīṣāʾ, like mirīṭāʾ: a small rumen attached to the larger rumen.
العقنقصة، بالفتح، كعكنكعة وخبعثنة، أي بالضم، واختلفت نسخ الجمهرة، ففي بعضها بالقاف في موضعين، وفي بعضها الأولى قاف والثانية فاء، ومثله في التكملة مجودا، وفي بعضها الأولى فاء، والثانية قاف، ومثله في اللسان، وقد تقدم: دويبة، عن ابن دريد.
Al-ʿaqnaqaṣah, with fatḥah, like ʿaknakʿah and khabaʿthnah, meaning with dammah, and the copies of al-Jamharah differed, so in some of them with qāf in two places, and in some the first is qāf and the second is faʾ, and similarly in al-Takmilah well-formed, and in some the first is faʾ, and the second is qāf, and similarly in al-Lisān, and it has preceded: a small creature, from Ibn Durayd.
في النوادر: المعاقصة: المعازة، يقال: أخذته معاقصة ومقاصعة، وكذلك المعافصة، بالفاء، وقد تقدم.
In al-Nawādir: Al-muʿāqaṣah: the struggle, it is said: he took it in a struggle and a wrestling, and likewise al-muʿāfaṣah, with faʾ, and it has preceded.
والعقص والعقوص، بالضم: خيوط تفتل من صوف وتصبغ بالسواد، وتصل به المرأة شعرها، يمانية.
And al-ʿaqṣ and al-ʿuqūṣ, with dammah: threads spun from wool and dyed black, and a woman adorns her hair with them, a Yemeni practice.
وعقصت شعرها تعقصه عقصا: شدته في قفاها.
And she tied her hair, tying it, ʿaqṣan: she secured it at the nape of her neck.
وعقص أمره، إذا لواه فلبسه.
And his affair was twisted, meaning he became entangled in it.
والأعقص: البخيل، وهو مجاز.
And al-aʿqaṣ: the stingy, and this is metaphorical.
والعقيص: السيئ الخلق الملتويه.
And al-ʿaqīṣ: the ill-tempered, the twisted one.
والعقاص، بالكسر: الدوارة التي في بطن الشاة، وهي المربض، والحوية، والحاوية.
And al-ʿiqāṣ, with kasr: the spiral that is in the stomach of a sheep, and it is the lair, and the container, and the holder.
العقص: إمساك اليد بخلا، وهو مجاز.
Al-ʿaqṣ: holding back the hand out of stinginess, and this is metaphorical.
وعقصت علي الدابة، كفرح: حرنت، وهو مجاز.
And the mount became stubborn with me, as in faraḥa: it refused to move, and this is metaphorical.