عدمa single root indicating the loss of a thing and its going away. (root dm)

Al-ʿadam (العدم): the loss of a thing and its departure; and al-ʿudum (العدم) is [another] dialectal form. If they intend the heavier [pronunciation] they put a fatḥa on the ʿayn [al-ʿadam], and if they intend the lighter [pronunciation] they put a ḍamma on it [al-ʿudum]. ʿAdimtu fulānan aʿdamuhu ʿadaman (عدمت فلانا أعدمه عدما) means: I lost him — [equivalent to] afqiduhu fiqdan wa-fiqdānan (أفقده فقدا وفقدانا) — meaning he became absent from you through death or through a loss you have no power over. Aʿdamahu Allāhu minnī kadhā (أعدمه الله مني كذا) means: He caused him to lose [it]. A man is ʿadīm (عديم) [when] he has no wealth; his wealth has been lost (ʿadima) and gone from him. Al-ʿadīm (العديم): the poor man, because he has lost wealth and despaired of it; it may be pluralized as ʿudamāʾ (عدماء), as al-faqīr is pluralized as fuqarāʾ. He said: 'Our destitute one (ʿadīmunā) is abstinent and generous, while upon the wealthy rests the guarantee of the destitute's right.' Aʿdama (أعدم), so he is muʿdim (معدم); afqara (أفقر), so he is mufqir (مفقر) — meaning destitution and poverty have descended upon him and he has become their possessor. Ḥassān ibn Thābit said: 'Many a forbearance was wasted by loss of wealth (ʿadamu l-māl), and [many an] ignorance was concealed by [worldly] ease.' Because when he is poor, people see no worth in him, nor do they benefit from his forbearance, nor do they hold him in awe; but when he is wealthy he is held in awe and tolerated, even if he is foolish, out of desire for what he possesses. He said: 'Do you not see me today — I am no better than the sheep (lā aʿdū ghanam), [doing] as much as I am able, and my help is like that of the destitute (al-ʿadam)?' Ḥammās said regarding his words 'lā aʿdū ghanam': meaning I have no advantage over the sheep — i.e., over guarding them — meaning I have no benefit or sufficiency [to offer] except the like of the sufficiency of one sheep among a flock.

ʿAdimtu al-shayʾ (عدمت الشيء), with kasra [on the dāl]: aʿdamuhu ʿadaman (أعدمه عدما), with fatḥa [on the ʿayn and dāl], contrary to [normal grammatical] analogy, means: I lost it. Al-ʿadam (العدم) also means poverty, and likewise al-ʿudum (العدم); when you put a ḍamma on its first letter you lighten it, and when you put a fatḥa you make it heavy. Likewise al-juḥd and al-juḥud (الجحد والجحد), al-ṣulb and al-ṣulub (الصلب والصلب), al-rushd and al-rushud (الرشد والرشد), and al-ḥuzn and al-ḥazan (الحزن والحزن). The poet said: 'Cheerful with blessing, not distant [in generosity], equal to him are wealth (al-wafr) and destitution (al-ʿadam).' And another said: 'I have indeed known that you will surely come one evening, after which there is no fear for me, nor destitution (ʿadam).' Aʿdamahu Allāh (أعدمه الله): [He deprived him]. Aʿdama al-rajul (أعدم الرجل): he became poor, so he is muʿdim (معدم) and ʿadīm (عديم). It is said: mā yaʿdimunī hādhā al-amr (ما يعدمني هذا الأمر), meaning: this matter does not exceed/pass me by. Labīd said: 'And indeed I set out in the morning, and no companion fails me (yaʿdimunī) except one not long in the hobbling-place [i.e. my horse].' He means: no one is with me except myself and my horse. Al-ʿadāʾim (العدائم): a type of fresh dates found in Medina, coming at the end of the date season. ʿAdāmah (عدامة): a water[-source] belonging to Banū Jusham. Al-ʿandam (العندم): al-baqqam (sappanwood/dye-wood), also said to be 'the blood of the two brothers' [a poetic name for red dye]. And he said: 'By the flowing blood which, upon the peak of al-ʿUzzā and at al-Nasr, you would imagine to be sappanwood (ʿandaman).'

The letters ʿayn, dāl, and mīm form a single root indicating the loss of a thing and its departure. From this comes ʿadam (العدم) [lack/loss]. ʿAdima fulānun al-shayʾ (عدم فلان الشيء) means he lost it, and aʿdamahu Allāhu taʿālā kadhā (أعدمه الله تعالى كذا) means He caused him to lose such-and-such. Al-ʿadīm (العديم) is one who has no wealth, and it may be pluralized as al-ʿudamāʾ (العدماء), just as one says faqīr (فقير) and fuqarāʾ (فقراء). Aʿdama (أعدم) said of a man means he became possessed of ʿadam (destitution). He said concerning al-ʿadīm (العديم): 'Our destitute one (ʿadīmunā) is abstinent and generous, while upon the wealthy rests the guarantee of the destitute's right.' And he said concerning al-ʿadam (العدم), [this is] Ḥassān ibn Thābit: 'Many a forbearance was wasted by loss of wealth (ʿadamu l-māl), and [many an] ignorance was concealed by [worldly] ease.'

Al-ʿadam, al-ʿudum, and al-ʿadam (العدم والعدم والعدم) [various vocalizations]: the loss of a thing and its departure; it predominantly applies to the loss and scarcity of wealth. ʿAdimahu yaʿdimuhu ʿadaman wa-ʿudman (عدمه يعدمه عدما وعدما): [he lost it], so he is ʿadim (عدم); aʿdama (أعدم) means he became poor, and aʿdamahu ghayruhu (أعدمه غيره) means someone else deprived him. Al-ʿadam (العدم): poverty, and likewise al-ʿudum (العدم); when you put a ḍamma on its first letter you lighten it, saying al-ʿudum, and when you put a fatḥa on its first letter you make it heavy, saying al-ʿadam; likewise al-juḥd and al-juḥud, al-ṣulb and al-ṣulub, al-rushd and al-rushud, and al-ḥuzn and al-ḥazan. A man who is ʿadīm (عديم) [may also mean]: one who has no intellect. Aʿdamanī al-shayʾ (أعدمني الشيء): I did not find it. Labīd said: 'And indeed I set out in the morning, and no companion fails me (yaʿdimunī) except one not long in the hobbling-place.' He means a horse, i.e., my horse does not fail/deprive me; he means: no one is with me except myself and my horse. Al-muḥtabal (المحتبل): the place of the rope above the hock, and length in that place is a defect. Mā yaʿdimunī (ما يعدمني) means: I am not deprived of it. Mā yaʿdimunī hādhā al-amr (ما يعدمني هذا الأمر) means: this matter does not pass me by. Aʿdama iʿdāman wa-ʿadaman (أعدم إعداما وعدما): he became poor and came to possess destitution — according to Kurāʿ — so he is ʿadīm and muʿdim (عديم ومعدم), having no wealth. He [Kurāʿ] said: and its parallel is aḥḍara al-rajulu iḥḍāran wa-ḥaḍran, ayasara īsāran wa-yusran, aʿsara iʿsāran wa-ʿusran, andhara indhāran wa-nudhran, aqbala iqbālan wa-qublan, adbara idbāran wa-dubran, afḥasha ifḥāshan wa-faḥshan, ahjara ihjāran wa-hujran, and ankara inkāran wa-nukran. It was said: rather the verbal noun [maṣdar] from all of these is the bare noun [ism], while al-ifʿāl [Form IV verbal noun] is [also] a maṣdar. Ibn Sīdah said: and this is the correct [view], because faʿl is not the maṣdar of afʿala. Al-ʿadīm (العديم): the poor man who has no wealth, plural ʿudamāʾ (عدماء). In the Hadith: 'man yuqriḍu ghayra ʿadīmin wa-lā ẓalūm' (من يقرض غير عديم ولا ظلوم) — 'who will lend to other than one who is destitute or oppressive.' Al-ʿadīm (العديم): one who has nothing, on the pattern faʿīl in the sense of fāʿil [active participle]. Aʿdamahu (أعدمه): he deprived/withheld from him. A man says to his beloved: ʿadimtu fuqdaka wa-lā ʿadimtu faḍlaka (عدمت فقدك ولا عدمت فضلك) and lā aʿdamanī Allāhu faḍlaka (ولا أعدمني الله فضلك), meaning: may I not be deprived of your favor. It is said: ʿadimtu fulānan wa-aʿdamanīhi Allāh (عدمت فلانا وأعدمنيه الله) [I lost so-and-so, and God deprived me of him]. Abū al-Haytham said concerning the meaning of the poet's verse: 'and he is not one who withholds from a relative, nor a kinsman, ever, nor destitute (muʿdiman) toward one who beats down leaves [for fodder]' He said: its meaning is that he does not become impoverished on account of a beggar who asks him for his wealth, such that he would be reduced to [eating] like one beating down leaves. Al-Azharī said: it is also possible that its meaning is 'nor one who withholds from one who beats down leaves' — i.e., he deprived him, [meaning] refused his request. It is said: fulānun yaksibu al-maʿdūm (فلان يكسب المعدوم) [so-and-so earns the unobtainable], said of one who is fortunate, earning what is denied to others. It is said: huwa ākalukum lil-maʾdūm wa-aksabukum lil-maʿdūm wa-aʿṭākum lil-maḥrūm (هو آكلكم للمأدوم وأكسبكم للمعدوم وأعطاكم للمحروم) — 'he is the greatest of you at eating seasoned food, the greatest of you at earning the unobtainable, and the greatest of you at giving to the deprived.' A poet said, describing a wolf: 'One for whom the unobtainable (al-maʿdūm) is earned by the effort of one alone, his companion is destitution — he never grows wealthy.' That is, he earns the unobtainable by himself and does not grow rich. In the Hadith of the [Prophet's] mission: Khadījah said to him... [entry continues]