حَكَمَةٌ
1.
[A kind of curb for a horse;] a certain appertenance of a beast; so called because it renders him manageable, or submissive, to the rider, and prevents him from being refractory and the like; (Msb;) or because it prevents him from vehement running: (TA:) it is the appertenance of the لِجَام [or bridle] that surrounds the
حَنَك [or part beneath the chin and lower jaw]: the Arabs used to make it of untanned thong or of hemp; because what they aimed at was courage, not finery: (S:) or the appertenance of the لجام
that surrounds the
حَنَكَانِ [which word apparently here means the two jaws] of the horse, and in which are [attached] the
عِذَارَانِ [or two side-pieces of the headstall, that lie against the two cheeks]: (K:) or a ring which surrounds
the
مَرْسِن [or part of the nose which is the place of the halter] and the
حَنَك [or part beneath the chin and lower jaw], of silver or iron or thong: (IDrd in his Book on the Saddle and Bridle:) or a ring which is upon (فى) the mouth of the horse: (ISh, TA:) plural حَكَمَاتٌ (S, TA) and [coll. gen. n.]
حَكَمٌ. (TA.) Zuheyr says, describing horses,
meaning قَدْ أُحْكِمَتْ بِحَكَمَاتِ القِدِّ وَ بِحَكَمَاتِ الأَبَقِ [That had been curbed with curbs of untanned thong, and with curbs of hemp]: (S, TA:) or, according to Abu-l-Hasan, [the meaning is that had been furnished with curbs &c.; for he says that] احكمت is here made transitive because it implies the signification of قُلِّدَتْ: (TA:) some relate the hemistich thus:حَكَمَاتِ القِدِّ وَ الأَبَقَا قَدْ أُحْكِمَتْ
[furnished with curbs of untanned thong, and hemp]. (S, TA.)حَكَمَاتِ القِدِّ وَ الأَبَقَا مَحْكُومَةً
3.
And, of a man, (tropical:) The fore part of the face: (K, TA:) or, as some say, the lower part of the face: a metaphorical term from the حَكَمَة of the لِجَام: (TA:) or [in some copies of the K “ and ”] (tropical:) his head: [according to the CK, or the fore part of the head of a man:] and (tropical:) his state, or condition: and (tropical:) rank, and station. (K, TA.) You say, رَفَعَ اللّٰهُ حَكَمَتَهُ (tropical:) God exalted, or may God exalt, his head, or his state, or condition, and his rank, and station: because the stooping of the head is a characteristic of the low, or abject. (TA.) And لَهُ عِنْدَنَا حَكَمَةٌ (tropical:) He has rank in our estimation. (TA.) And فُلَانٌ
عَالِى الحَكَمَةِ (tropical:) [Such a one is elevated in respect of rank, or station.] (TA.)
4.
[See also حَاكِمٌ, of which it is a plural]