عربthree origins — clarity/eloquent articulation, liveliness/good spirits, and … (root rb)

Al-ʿArab al-ʿāribah (العرب العاربة): the pure-blooded among them. Al-aʿārīb (الأعاريب) is the plural of al-aʿrāb (الأعراب). A man is 'ʿarabī' (عربي). 'Mā bihā ʿarīb (ما بها عريب)' means 'there is no Arab there.' 'Aʿraba (أعرب)' the man means he spoke clearly and eloquently in speech and discourse, and he is 'ʿurbānī al-lisān (عرباني اللسان),' meaning eloquent. A horse 'aʿraba' when its Arab pedigree became pure and it escaped admixture (al-qirāfah). The camels called 'al-ʿirāb (العراب)' are the pure Arab ones. 'Al-ʿArab al-mustaʿribah (العرب المستعربة)' are those who entered among them and became Arabized. A woman called 'al-ʿarūb (العروب)' is one who laughs much and is of good spirit; such women are 'al-ʿurub (العرب).' 'Al-ʿurūbah (العروبة)': Friday. As [the poet] said: '— How beautiful he is, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, when he appears, on the day of al-ʿurūbah, when the pulpit is established...' [He] alluded to ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz before naming him, then he named him. 'Al-ʿarab (العرب)': liveliness and spiritedness. 'ʿAriba (عرب)' the man, 'yaʿrabu, ʿaraban,' so he is 'ʿarib (عرب)'; likewise a horse is 'ʿarib,' meaning lively. 'ʿAriba' the man, 'yaʿrabu, ʿaraban,' so he is 'ʿarib,' meaning stuffed/overfull [with food]. 'ʿAribat maʿidatuhu (عربت معدته)' is when his insides rumble from fodder. 'Al-ʿurb (العرب)': dried-out wild grass (yabīs al-bahmā); singular 'ʿurbah (عربة).' 'Al-taʿrīb (التعريب)': to cauterize an animal — branding it near the ears at certain spots, then lancing it with an instrument so that its hair grows thick. 'Al-ʿarābah (العرابة),' 'al-taʿrīb (التعريب),' and 'al-iʿrāb (الإعراب)' are nouns from 'aʿrabtu (أعربت),' meaning indecent speech; such [obscene] 'iʿrāb' is disliked for one in the state of pilgrim consecration (iḥrām). 'ʿArabtu ʿan fulān (عربت عن فلان)' means I spoke on so-and-so's behalf with an argument.

Al-ʿArab (العرب): a nation of people, well-known; the relational adjective from them is 'ʿarabī (عربي)' with [the abstract noun] 'al-ʿurūbah (العروبة)' — they are the people of the settled lands. 'Al-aʿrāb (الأعراب)' among them are specifically the desert-dwellers. In eloquent poetry occurs [the plural] 'al-aʿārīb (الأعاريب).' The relational adjective from 'al-aʿrāb' is 'aʿrābī (أعرابي),' because it has no [true] singular. 'Al-aʿrāb' is not a plural of 'ʿarab' — unlike 'al-anbāṭ (الأنباط),' which is a plural of 'nabaṭ (نبط)' — rather 'al-ʿarab' is a generic noun. 'Al-ʿArab al-ʿāribah (العرب العاربة)' are the pure-blooded among them; taken from its own root-form and used for intensification, like 'layl lāʾil (ليل لائل).' Sometimes they also say 'al-ʿArab al-ʿArbāʾ (العرب العرباء).' 'Taʿarraba (تعرب)' means he made himself resemble the Arabs. 'Taʿarraba baʿda hijratihi' means he reverted to bedouin life after having emigrated. 'Al-ʿArab al-mustaʿribah (العرب المستعربة)' are those who are not pure-blooded; likewise 'al-mutaʿarribah (المتعربة).' 'Al-ʿarabiyyah (العربية)' is this language [Arabic]. Yaʿrub ibn Qaḥṭān was the first to speak Arabic, and he is the ancestor of all of Yemen. 'Al-ʿarab' and 'al-ʿurb' are one and the same, like 'al-ʿajam' and 'al-ʿujm.' 'Al-ʿurayb (العريب)' is the diminutive of 'al-ʿarab.' Abū al-Hindī said: '— ... and the food of the diminutive-Arabs (al-ʿurayb), which the souls of the non-Arabs (al-ʿajam) do not desire.' He used the diminutive for them as a form of glorification, as one says: 'I am its well-worn stake, its revered little palm-shoot' [a proverbial self-praise]. 'ʿAruba lisānuhu (عرب لسانه),' with ḍammah, giving '(ʿurūbah, عروبة),' means it became Arabic/eloquent. 'Aʿraba kalāmahu (أعرب كلامه)' means he made no grammatical error in his iʿrāb. 'Aʿraba bi-ḥujjatihi (أعرب بحجته)' means he spoke his argument openly and feared no one. Al-Kumayt said: '— We found for you, in the family of Ḥāmīm, a sign which some of us interpret openly and some withhold out of caution...' meaning the one who explains it in detail, and the one who stays silent out of prudent fear (taqiyyah). In the hadith: 'The previously-married woman speaks for herself plainly (tuʿribu)' — meaning she expresses herself clearly. 'Al-muʿrib (المعرب)' is one who owns pure Arab horses. Al-Kisāʾī said: 'al-muʿrib' among horses is one with no trace of a mongrel strain; the feminine is 'muʿribah (معربة).' 'Aʿraba (أعرب)' the man means a child of pure Arab complexion was born to him. 'Al-ibil al-ʿirāb (الإبل العراب)' and 'al-khayl al-ʿirāb (الخيل العراب)' [pure-bred camels/horses] are opposed to the Bactrian camels (al-bakhātī) and the mongrel horses (al-barādhīn). 'Aʿraba' the man means he spoke obscenely, and the noun is 'al-ʿarābah (العرابة).' 'Aʿraba saqy al-qawm (أعرب سقي القوم)' is when the watering [of livestock] was irregular — sometimes every fourth day, sometimes every fifth — then settled into one pattern. 'ʿArraba ʿalayhi fiʿlahu (عرب عليه فعله)' means he deemed his action reprehensible. In the hadith: 'ʿarrabū ʿalayhi (عربوا عليه)' means 'they objected to him in disapproval.' 'ʿArraba manṭiqahu (عرب منطقه)' means he corrected his speech from grammatical error. 'ʿArabtu ʿan al-qawm (عربت عن القوم)' means I spoke on the people's behalf. 'Al-taʿrīb (التعريب)' [also]: trimming the palm-fronds. 'Taʿrīb al-ism al-aʿjamī (تعريب الاسم الأعجمي)': arabizing a foreign word, i.e., the Arabs' pronouncing it according to their own pattern; you say 'ʿarrabathu al-ʿArab (عربته العرب)' and also 'aʿrabathu (أعربته).' 'Al-ʿarbah (العربة),' with fatḥah, means a river of strong current. And... [entry continues]

The letters ʿayn, rāʾ, and bāʾ (ع ر ب) have three basic root-meanings: the first is clear explanation and eloquent expression; the second is liveliness and cheerfulness of spirit; the third is corruption/disorder in a body or limb. As for the first: their saying 'aʿraba (أعرب) the man about himself' means he made clear and explained. The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said: 'The previously-married woman (al-thayyib, الثيب) speaks for herself clearly (tuʿribu ʿanhā lisānuhā, يعرب عنها لسانها), while the virgin (al-bikr, البكر) is consulted about herself.' And it is reported in a hadith: 'It is recommended, when the child begins to speak clearly (yuʿribu, يعرب), that he say "There is no god but God" seven times' — meaning when he expresses himself clearly. This is not the grammatical iʿrāb (إعراب) of speech; though the grammatical iʿrāb of speech is also derived from this root-meaning, because by iʿrāb one distinguishes between meanings — in the subject, object, negation, exclamation, interrogation, and the other chapters of this branch of knowledge [grammar]. As for the nation called 'al-ʿArab' (العرب), it is not unlikely that they were named thus from this root-meaning, because their tongue is the clearest of tongues (aʿrab al-alsina) and their eloquence is the finest eloquence. What clarifies this is the hadith: 'Arabic (al-ʿarabiyyah, العربية) is not a single topic, but rather it is an articulate tongue.' What also indicates this is the Arabs' saying 'mā bihā ʿarīb (ما بها عريب),' meaning 'there is no one there' — as if meaning 'there is no companion there who expresses himself clearly.' Al-Khalīl said: al-ʿArab al-ʿāribah (العرب العاربة) are the pure-blooded among them, and al-aʿārīb (الأعاريب) is the plural of al-aʿrāb (الأعراب); a man is 'ʿarabī' (عربي). He said: a man 'aʿraba' (أعرب) when he spoke clearly and eloquently, and he is 'ʿurbānī al-lisān' (عرباني اللسان), meaning eloquent. A horse 'aʿraba' (أعرب) when its Arab pedigree became pure and it escaped admixture (al-qurfah). The camels called 'al-ʿirāb' (العراب) are the pure Arab camels. 'Al-ʿArab al-mustaʿribah' (العرب المستعربة) are those who entered [the Arab race] afterward and became Arabized (istaʿrabū wa-taʿarrabū). The second root-meaning: a woman called 'al-ʿarūb' (العروب) is one who laughs much and is of good, cheerful spirit; such women are 'al-ʿurub' (العرب). God Almighty said: {So We made them virgins, loving (ʿuruban, عربا), of matching age} [Q. 56:36-37]. The exegetes said: they are the ones who show affection to their husbands. 'Al-ʿarab' (العرب), with sukūn on the rāʾ, means liveliness/spiritedness, as in: '— and the horses show liveliness (ʿaraban) in their reins...' And 'al-ʿarab' (العرب), with fatḥah on the rāʾ, means 'trace/mark'; from it one says 'ʿariba yaʿrabu ʿaraban' (عرب يعرب عربا). The third root-meaning: their saying 'ʿaribat maʿidatuhu (عربت معدته)' means his stomach became disordered, 'taʿrubu ʿaraban.' From this one says of a woman 'ʿarūb (عروب),' meaning corrupted/spoiled. ʿAlī ibn Ibrāhīm al-Qaṭṭān recited to us — [reciting] what Thaʿlab recited to us on the authority of Ibn al-Aʿrābī: '— And after Umm ʿImrān there succeeded a sallow, quarrelsome woman, of the dark ones, slack-reined, disordered (ʿarūb)...' As for the day called 'al-jumʿah' (Friday), it is also called 'al-ʿurūbah' (العروبة); this is, in our view, a name established on a basis other than the derivation mentioned. They say it used to be called 'al-ʿurūbah' in ancient times. The Book of God and the hadith of the Messenger of God mention only 'al-jumʿah' — though they cite as evidence: '— On the day of al-ʿurūbah, one caller after another...' and also: '— How beautiful he is with al-ʿAzīz when he appears, on the day of al-ʿurūbah, when the pulpit stands firm...' All of this, in our view, is something whose authenticity cannot be relied upon.

'Al-ʿArab (العرب)': the descendants of Ismāʿīl (Ishmael); 'al-aʿrāb (الأعراب)' is originally its plural, but it came to be [specifically] the name for the dwellers of the desert. [Quran:] {The bedouin (al-aʿrāb) say, "We have believed"} [Q. 49:14]; {The bedouin are more severe in disbelief and hypocrisy} [Q. 9:97]; {And among the bedouin are those who believe in God and the Last Day} [Q. 9:99]. And it is said that the plural of 'al-aʿrāb' is 'al-aʿārīb (الأعاريب)'; the poet said: [entry continues]

'Al-ʿarab' and 'al-ʿurb' (العرب والعرب): a well-known nation of people, opposite of 'al-ʿajam'; they are one and the same [word], like 'al-ʿajam' and 'al-ʿujm,' [grammatically] feminine; its diminutive without the tāʾ marbūṭah is rare. Al-Jawharī [said]: 'al-ʿurayb (العريب)' is the diminutive of 'al-ʿarab.' Abū al-Hindī — whose [real] name was ʿAbd al-Muʾmin ibn ʿAbd al-Quddūs — said: '— As for the truffles and your lizards, I have not ceased to suffer much illness from them; Yet I have obtained from them what you have obtained, though I found nothing among them like an aged skink; Nor is there among the eggs anything like chicken eggs, while locust eggs are a cure for hunger; And female skink-flesh is the food of the little Arabs (al-ʿurayb), which the souls of the non-Arabs do not desire.' He used the diminutive for them as glorification, as one says: 'I am its well-worn stake, its revered little palm-shoot.' 'Al-ʿArab al-ʿāribah (العرب العاربة)': the pure-blooded among them; taken from its own root-form for intensification, like 'layl lāʾil.' You say: '[they are] ʿarab ʿāribah wa-ʿarbāʾ (عرب عاربة وعرباء),' meaning pure/genuine. 'Mutaʿarribah (متعربة)' and 'mustaʿribah (مستعربة)': entrants, not pure-blooded. 'Al-ʿarabī (العربي)' is the relational adjective for the Arabs, even if he is not a bedouin. 'Al-aʿrābī (الأعرابي)' is the bedouin; collectively they are 'al-aʿrāb (الأعراب),' and 'al-aʿārīb (الأعاريب)' is the plural of 'al-aʿrāb.' In eloquent poetry occurs [the form] 'al-aʿārīb.' It is said: 'al-aʿrāb' is not a plural of 'ʿarab,' just as 'al-anbāṭ' was a plural of 'nabaṭ' — rather 'al-ʿarab' is a generic noun. The relational adjective for 'al-aʿrāb' is 'aʿrābī.' Sībawayh said: the relational adjective for 'al-aʿrāb' is given as 'aʿrābī' because it has no [true] singular in this sense — do you not see that you say 'al-ʿarab' [yet it is not used in this bedouin-specific sense]? This confirms his point. 'ʿArabī (عربي)': [described by] 'al-ʿurūbah (العروبة)' and 'al-ʿurūbiyyah (العروبية),' both verbal-nouns with no derived verb. Al-Azharī related: a man is 'ʿarabī' if his lineage among the Arabs is firmly established, even if not eloquent; its plural is 'al-ʿarab,' as one says 'rajul majūsī' and 'yahūdī,' whose plurals (by dropping the relational yāʾ) are 'al-yahūd' and 'al-majūs.' A man is 'muʿrib (معرب)' if he is eloquent, even if of foreign lineage. A man is 'aʿrābī (أعرابي),' with the alif, if he is a bedouin — a seeker of pasture, one who migrates seasonally and searches for grazing land, following the places rain has fallen — whether he is [ethnically] of the Arabs or of their clients. 'Al-aʿrābī' is pluralized as 'al-aʿrāb' and 'al-aʿārīb.' If the bedouin is called 'O ʿarabī!' he is pleased and delighted. But if the [settled] Arab is called 'O aʿrābī!' he becomes angry. So whoever settles in the desert, or dwells among the desert-dwellers, migrating and moving as they do, are 'al-aʿrāb'; and whoever settles in the fertile lands and the [Arab] cities and villages and elsewhere, among those tracing lineage to the Arabs, are 'al-ʿarab,' even if not eloquent. As for God's word: {The bedouin say, "We have believed." Say: "You have not believed; rather say, 'We have submitted,'..."} [Q. 49:14] — these were a people from the Arab deserts who came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in Medina, hoping for the... [entry continues]