لكع

Root entry · 24 derived lemmas

The root لكع (l-k-ʿ) primarily denotes baseness, lowliness, and ignobility. It extends to meanings of being foolish, stupid, or lacking in intellect and eloquence. It can also refer to something small, young, or even a lowly servant, and in some contexts, it signifies something sticky or adhering.

Derived headwords

اللَّكْعnoun

1.
base personclassical
A base, ignoble, or mean-spirited person.
2.
servantclassical
A slave or a lowly servant.
3.
foolclassical
A foolish or stupid person.
4.
young boyclassical
A young boy, especially one lacking in intellect or eloquence due to his youth.
5.
foalclassical
A colt.
6.
sticky substanceclassical
A sticky or adhering substance, like dirt.

لكعverb

1.
to be baseclassical
To be base, ignoble, or mean.
2.
to stickclassical
To stick or adhere to something.
3.
to be unable to speakclassical
To be unable to speak clearly or eloquently.
4.
to eat and drinkclassical
To eat and drink.
5.
to suckleclassical
To suckle or nurse.
6.
to stingclassical
To sting, as a scorpion does.
7.
to speak illclassical
To say unpleasant or unbecoming things to someone.

لكاعةnoun

1.
basenessclassical
Baseness, ignobility, or meanness.
2.
stickinessclassical
The quality of being sticky or adhering.
3.
inability to speakclassical
The state of being unable to speak clearly or eloquently.

ألكعadjective

1.
most baseclassical
More base or ignoble.
2.
most foolishclassical
Most foolish or stupid.

ملكعانnoun

1.
ignoble personclassical
An ignoble, base, or foolish person.
2.
young personclassical
A young person, especially one lacking in maturity or intellect.

لكاعnoun

1.
ignoble womanclassical
A base, ignoble, or mean woman.
2.
young personclassical
A young person, often used in address.

لكوعadjective

1.
baseclassical
Base, ignoble, or mean.
2.
foolishclassical
Foolish or stupid.
3.
servileclassical
Servile, of a base nature.

لكيعadjective

1.
baseclassical
Base, ignoble, or mean.
2.
foolishclassical
Foolish or stupid.

بنو اللكيعةname

1.
Banu al-Lakīʿaclassical
A group of people, mentioned in historical context.

الملاكيعnoun

1.
placenta and membranesclassical
What emerges from the womb with a child, such as the placenta and membranes.

لكعnoun

1.
stingingclassical
The act of stinging, as by a scorpion.

لكعnoun

1.
eating and drinkingclassical
The act of eating and drinking.

لكعnoun

1.
sucklingclassical
The act of suckling or nursing.

لكعnoun

1.
short personclassical
A short person.

لكاعnoun

1.
horse nameclassical
The name of a horse belonging to Dhī al-Libda.

لعكnoun

1.
suckling foalclassical
A suckling foal.

لكيعةnoun

1.
base slave womanclassical
A base, ignoble slave woman.

لكاعadjective

1.
baseclassical
Base, ignoble, or mean.

الألاكعnoun

1.
plural of ألكعclassical
Plural of ألكع, referring to those who are most base or foolish.
2.
plural of pluralclassical
A plural of a plural, indicating a large group of base individuals.

لكع لاكعadjective

1.
narrow-mindedclassical
Narrow-minded, of little use, and disregarded by men.

لكوعadjective

1.
wicked and stingyclassical
Wicked in deeds, stingy, and of little good.

لكعadjective

1.
unable to speakclassical
One who cannot speak clearly or eloquently.

الألكعadjective

1.
toothlessclassical
A horse whose mouth has fallen out (lost its teeth).

اللكاعةnoun

1.
thorny plantclassical
A thorny plant with a soft, strap-like shoot and spiny branches.

Parallel reading

اللكع، كصرد: اللئيم، نقله الجوهري وهو قول أبي عمرو.

Al-lakʿ, like ṣurad: the ignoble one, as narrated by Al-Jawharī, and this is the saying of Abū ʿAmr.

وقيل: هو العبد وهو قول أبي عبيد، زاد الجوهري الذليل النفس.

And it was said: it is the slave, which is the saying of Abū ʿUbayd, and Al-Jawharī added: the one who is abject in spirit.

وقيل: هو الأحمق قاله ابن دريد.

And it was said: it is the fool, said by Ibn Durayd.

وقال الأصمعي: اللكع: من لا يتجه لمنطق ولا غيره، وهو العيي.

And Al-Aṣmaʿī said: Al-lakʿ is one who does not attend to speech or anything else; he is the inarticulate one.

ويقال للصبي الصغير أيضا لكع، ومنه حديث أبي هريرة: أثم لكع يعني الحسن أو الحسين رضي الله عنهما، كما في الصحاح

And a young boy is also called lakʿ, and from this is the hadith of Abū Hurayrah: 'Is there then a lakʿ?' meaning Al-Ḥasan or Al-Ḥusayn, may God be pleased with them, as in Al-Ṣiḥāḥ.

فإن أطلق على الكبير أريد به الصغير في العلم والعقل

If it is applied to an elder, the intention is a junior in knowledge and intellect.

ومننه حديث الحسن: قال لرجل: يا لكع يريد يا صغيرا في العلم

And from this is the hadith of Al-Ḥasan: he said to a man: 'O lakʿ,' meaning 'O junior in knowledge.'

ألا ترى أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم دخل بيت فاطمة، رضي الله عنها، فقال: أين لكع أراد الحسن، وهو الصغير، أراد أنه لصغره لا يتجه لمنطق، وما يصلحه، ولم يرد أنه لئيم أو عبد.

Do you not see that the Prophet, peace be upon him, entered the house of Fāṭimah, may God be pleased with her, and said: 'Where is the lakʿ?' meaning Al-Ḥasan, who was young. He meant that due to his youth, he did not attend to speech or what was suitable for him, and he did not mean that he was ignoble or a slave.

وفي حديث آخر: يأتي زمان يكون أسعد الناس فيه لكع بن لكع

And in another hadith: 'A time will come when the happiest of people will be lakʿ ibn lakʿ.'

قيل: أراد اللئيم، وقيل: الوسخ، وسئل عنه بلال بن جرير فقال: هو في لغتنا الصغير

It was said: he meant the ignoble one, and it was said: the dirty one. And when Bilāl ibn Jarīr was asked about it, he said: In our dialect, it means the young one.

واللكع: أصله وسخ القلفة، ثم جعل للذي لا يبين الكلام.

And al-lakʿ: its origin is the dirt of the foreskin, then it was used for one who does not speak clearly.

وتقول في النداء: يا لكع، وللاثنين: يا ذوي لكع ولا يصرف لكع في المعرفة، لأنه معدول من ألكع.

And you say in address: 'O lakʿ,' and for two: 'O dhawī lakʿ.' And lakʿ is not declined in the definite state because it is an adjective derived from al-kaʿ.

ويقال للفرس الذكر: لكع، وللأنثى لكعة، وهذا ينصرف في المعرفة، لأنه ليس كذلك، وفي الصحاح ليس ذلك، المعدول الذي يقال للمؤنث منه: لكاع، وإنما هو كصرد ونغر

And the male horse is called lakʿ, and the female is called lakʿah. And this is declined in the definite state because it is not so. And in Al-Ṣiḥāḥ, it is not so; the adjective which is said for the feminine of it is lakāʿ, and it is like ṣurad and nighar.

قالوا في النداء للرجل: يا لكع، وللمرأة يا لكاع، وللاثنين: يا ذوي لكع

They said in address to a man: 'O lakʿ,' and to a woman: 'O lakāʿ,' and to two: 'O dhawī lakʿ.'

وقد لكع لكاعة، وزعم سيبويه أنهما لا يستعملان إلا في النداء، قال: ولا يصرف لكاع في المعرفة، لأنه معدول من لكع.

And he became lakʿ with lakāʿah. And Sībawayh claimed that they are only used in address. He said: And lakāʿ is not declined in the definite state because it is an adjective derived from lakʿ.

ولكع عليه الوسخ، كفرح: لصق به ولزمه، نقله الجوهري عن الأصمعي، وكذلك: لكث ولكد.

And dirt stuck to him, ka-fariḥa: it clung to him and adhered to him, as narrated by Al-Jawharī from Al-Aṣmaʿī. And similarly: lakatha and lakada.

لكع فلان لكعا، ولكاعة: لؤم هكذا في العباب، وضبط في الصحاح لكع لكاعة، ككرم كرامة، وهو ألكع لكع، وملكعان، الثاني كصرد، كذا هو نص الليث، وفي النسخ: ألكع، ولكع، وملكعان

So-and-so was lakʿ with lakʿan and lakāʿah: ignoble, as in Al-ʿAbbāb. And it is vocalized in Al-Ṣiḥāḥ as lakʿa lakāʿah, like karuma karāmah. And he is al-kaʿ lakʿ, and malakʿān. The second is like ṣurad. This is the text of Al-Layth, and in the copies: al-kaʿ, wa-lakʿ, and malakʿān.

إذا هوذية ولدت غلاما ... لسدري فذلك ملكعان

If a wild ass gave birth to a son... for my lote tree, then that is malakʿān.

إنا أهل البيت لا يحبنا ألكع.

We are the people of the house, no ignoble one loves us.

قال الليث: وبعض يقول في النداء وغيره: هو ملكعان وهي ملكعانة بالهاء، أو لا يقال: ملكعان إلا في النداء، يقال يا ملكعان يا مخبثان يا محمقان يا مرقعان يا ملأمان

Al-Layth said: And some say in address and otherwise: it is malakʿān, and she is malakʿānah with the ḥāʾ, or malakʿān is not said except in address. It is said: 'O malakʿān, O mukhbathān, O muḥmaqān, O murqaʿān, O malʾamān.'

ومننه قول الحسن لرجل: يا ملكعان لم رددت شهادة هذا قيل: أراد حداثة سنه، أو صغره في العلم

And from this is the saying of Al-Ḥasan to a man: 'O malakʿān, why did you reject the testimony of this?' It was said: He meant his young age, or his juniority in knowledge.

امرأة لكاع، كقطام: لئيمة قال الشاعر:

A woman lakāʿ, like qaṭṭām: ignoble. The poet said:

عليك بأمر نفسك يا لكاع ... فما من كان مرعيا كراع

Attend to your own affairs, O lakāʿ... for no one who is cared for is a shepherd.

أطوف ما أطوف ثم آوي ... إلى بيت قعيدته لكاع

I wander as much as I wander, then I seek refuge... in a house whose occupant is lakāʿ.

أنه قال لمولاة له أرادت الخروج من المدينة: اقعدي لكاع.

That he said to one of his female clients who wanted to leave Medina: 'Sit down, lakāʿ.'

لا أبتغي فضل امرئ لكوع جعد اليدين لحز منوع

I do not seek the favor of a lakūʿ man, whose hands are coarse and who is stingy and prohibitive.

فأنت الفتى ما دام في الزهر الندى ... وأنت إذا اشتد الزمان لكوع

You are the young man as long as generosity is in the flowers... and you are lakūʿ when time becomes harsh.

هم حفظوا ذماري يوم جاءت ... كتائب مسرف وبني اللكيعه

They protected my honor the day came... the battalions of Musrif and Banī al-Lakīʿah.

الملاكيع: ما يخرج من البطن مع الولد من سخد وصاءة وغيرهما.

Al-malākīʿ: what comes out of the womb with the child, such as the placenta and membranes and others.

يقال لكعته العقرب تلكعه لكعا، وأنشد الجوهري:

It is said that a scorpion stung him, it stung him with a sting. And Al-Jawharī narrated:

إذا مس دبره لكعا قلت: هو لذي الإصبع العدواني، وصدره: إما ترى نبله فخشرم خشاء

If its tail touched him with a sting, I said: It belongs to Dhu al-Iṣbaʿ al-ʿAdwānī. And its beginning: If you see his arrow, it is khashram khashāʾ.

واللكع: الأكل والشرب، كما في العباب.

And al-lakʿ: eating and drinking, as in Al-ʿAbbāb.

واللكع: النهز في الرضاع، نقله الجوهري.

And al-lakʿ: suckling during nursing, as narrated by Al-Jawharī.

يرى البخل بالمعروف كسبا وكسعه ... أولات الذرى بالغبر لكع كناتر

He sees stinginess with kindness as gain and its consequence... those of high status in dust are lakʿ, like natir.

اللعك، كصرد: الجحش الراضع، قاله نوح بن جرير حين سئل عن الحديث الذي تقدم، قال: نحن أرباب الحمر، نحن أعلم به.

Al-laʿk, like ṣurad: the suckling foal, said by Nūḥ ibn Jarīr when he was asked about the aforementioned hadith. He said: We are the masters of donkeys, we know it best.

واللكيعة: الأمة اللئيمة، كاللكعاء.

And al-lakīʿah: the ignoble slave woman, like al-lakʿāʾ.

ورجل لكوع، كصبور: ذليل عبد النفس

And a man lakūʿ, like ṣabūr: servile, of a base self.

ورجل لكاع، كسحاب: لئيم، ومنه حديث سعد: أرأيت إن دخل رجل بيته، فرأى لكاعا قد تفخذ امرأته، أفيذهب فيحضر أربعة شهداء جعل لكاعا صفة للرجل نعتا على فعال، قال ابن الأثير: فلعله أراد لكعا فحرف.

And a man lakāʿ, like saḥāb: ignoble. And from this is the hadith of Saʿd: 'What do you think if a man enters his house and sees a lakāʿ having intercourse with his wife, should he go and bring four witnesses?' He made lakāʿ an adjective for the man, a description in the form of faʿāl. Ibn Al-Athīr said: Perhaps he meant lakʿan and it was altered.

والألاكع: جمع الألكع، وقيل: جمع الجمع، قال الراجز:

And al-alākaʿ: plural of al-al-kaʿ, and it was said: plural of the plural. The rajaz poet said:

فأقبلت حمرهم هوابعا في السكتين تحمل الألاكعا

So their red ones came, galloping, in the narrow passes, carrying the al-alākaʿ.

كسره تكسير الأسماء حين غلب

He broke its broken plural like nouns when it became dominant.

قالوا في النداء للرجل: يا لكع، وللمرأة يا لكاع، وللاثنين: يا ذوي لكع

They said in address to a man: 'O lakʿ,' and to a woman: 'O lakāʿ,' and to two: 'O dhawī lakʿ.'

وقال أبو نهشل: يقال: هو لكع لاكع للضيق الصدر، القليل الغناء، الذي تؤخره الرجال عن أمورها، فلا يكون له موقع.

And Abū Nahshal said: It is said: 'He is lakʿ lākiʿ' for one who is narrow-chested, of little use, whom men push aside from their affairs, so he has no standing.

ويقال للرجل إذا كان خبيث الفعال شحيحا قليل الخير: إنه للكوع.

And it is said of a man if he is wicked in deeds, stingy, and of little good: he is al-kūʿ.

واللكع: الذي لا يبين الكلام.

And al-lakʿ: one who does not speak clearly.

ولكع الرجل: أسمعه ما لا يجمل، على المثل، عن الهجري.

And lakʿa al-rajul: he made the man hear what is unbecoming, as a proverb, from Al-Hajrī.

وإذا سقطت أضراس الفرس فهو لكع، وإذا سقط فمه فهو الألكع.

And if the horse's molars fall out, it is lakʿ, and if its mouth falls out, it is al-al-kaʿ.

واللكاعة بالضم شوكة تحتطب، لها سويقة قدر الشبر، لينة كأنها سير، ولها فروع مملوءة شوكا، وفي خلال الشوك وريقة لا بال بها، تنقبض ثم يبقى الشوك، فإذا جفت ابيضت، كما في اللسان.

And al-lakāʿah (with dammah) is a thorny plant used for firewood. It has a shoot about a span long, soft like a strap, and branches full of thorns. Among the thorns is a leaf that is not significant. It contracts, then the thorns remain. When it dries, it turns white, as in Al-Lisān.