شَابٌّ

particle n. of شَبَّ said of a boy; (Msb;) [Youthful, or in the prime of manhood; a youth, or a young man;] in the state from puberty to the completion of thirty years; or from sixteen years to thirty-two; after which a man is called كَهْلٌ; (TA;) in the age before الكُهُولَة: (Msb:) or in the state between thirty and forty: (Mgh:) [or in the state from the seventeenth year to the completion of fifty-one years: (see شَبَابٌ:)] and IAar mentions شَبٌّ as an epithet applied to a man [in the same sense as شَابٌّ]: (TA:) a female is termed شَابَّةٌ (S, Msb, K) and شَبَّةٌ; both signifying the same: (S, K:) the plural of شَابٌّ is شُبَّانٌ (S, A, Mgh, Msb, K) and شَبَبَةٌ (S, A, K) and شَبَابٌ, (S, A, * K,) or the last is a verbal noun used as an epithet applied to a plural number, (Mgh, and Ham p. 50,) or it is a quasi-plural n.: (TA:) females, (Msb,) or women, (K,) are termed شَوَابٌّ (Msb, K) and شَبَايءِبُ, (K,) the latter said by AZ to be allowable in the sense of the former, (TA,) which is plural of شَابَّةٌ, (Msb,) شَبَايءِبُ, according to Az, being plural (not of شَابَّةٌ but) of شَبَّةٌ, like as ضَرَايءِرُ is of ضَرَّةٌ: (TA:) the diminutive of شَابَّةٌ is شُوَيْبَّةٌ, and some of the Arabs say شُوَابَّةٌ, changing the ى into ا before a double letter [as in دُوَابَّةٌ for دُوَيْبَّةٌ]. (ISd, L in article هد.) One says, مَرَرْتُ بِرِجَال ٍ شَبَبَةٍ meaning شُبَّانٍ [i. e. I passed by men that were youths, or persons in the prime of manhood]. (S.)