بَلَدٌ

(which is masculine and feminine, Msb) andبَلْدَةٌ↓ both signify the same; (M, A, Msb, K;) namely, [A country, land, region, province, district, or territory: and a city, town, or village: or] any portion of the earth, or of land, comprehended within certain limits, [thus I render مُسْتَحِيزَة, and in like manner it is rendered in the TK,] cultivated, or inhabited, or uncultivated, or uninhabited: (M, Msb,* K:) or the former signifies any place of this description; and the latter, a portion thereof: (T:) or the former is a generic name of a place [or country or region or province] such as El-'Irák and Syria; and the latter signifies a particular portion thereof such as [the city or town of] El-Basrah and Damascus; (M, K;) or these are post-classical applications: (TA:) or the former, a tract of land, or district, which is an abode, or a place of resort, of animals, or genii, even if containing no building: (Nh:) or a land, or country, absolutely: and also a town, or village, synonym قَرْيَةٌ: but this latter is a conventional adventitious application: ('Ináyeh, TA:) and the latter, a land, country, or territory, [belonging to, or inhabited by, a people,] synonym أَرْضٌ: (S, TA: [a meaning assigned in the K to بَلَدٌ; but this appears to be a mistake occasioned by the accidental omission of the word البَلْدَةٌ:]) you say, هٰذِهِ بَلْدَتُنَا [This is our land,, &c.] like as you say, هٰذِهِ بَحْرَتُنَا: (S, TA:) the plural (of the former, S, Msb) is بُلْدَانٌ (S, M, Msb) and (of the same, S, or of the latter, Msb) بِلَادٌ: (T, S, M, Msb:) [which latter, regarded as plural of بَلْدَةٌ in a more limited sense than بَلَدٌ, is often used as meaning provinces collectively; i. e. a country:] بُلْدَانٌ is synonym with كُوَرٌ [which signifies districts, or tracts of country; quarters, or regions; and also, cities, towns, or villages]. (T.) البَلَدُ andالبَلْدَةُ↓ are names applied to Mekkeh; (M, K;) in like manner as النَّجْمُ is a name applied to the Pleiades. (M.) [So too البَلَدُ الأَمِينُ and البَلَدُ الحَرَامُ, &c.] بَلَدٌ مَيِّتٌ means A tract of land without herbage, or pasture: (Msb:) and بَلَدٌ alone, a [desert, a waterless desert, or such as is termed] مَفَازَةٍ. (TA voce تا; under which see an example) بَلَدٌ also signifies Land which has not been dug, and upon which fire has not been kindled. (M, K.) A [house, or dwelling, such as is termed] دار: (M, K:) of the dialect of El-Yemen. (M.) Sb mentions the saying, هٰذِهِ الدَّارُ نِعْمَتِ البَلَدُ [This house, excellent, or most excel-lent, is the dwelling!]; in which البلد is made feminine because it is synonym with الدار. (M.) A burial-ground: (M, K:) or, as some say, (M, but in the K “and,”) a grave, or sepulchre: (M, K:) plural as above. (M.) Dust, or earth; and soيَلْدَةٌ↓. (T, M, K.) The place in which an ostrich lays its egg, in sand. (S, M, L, K.) And hence, بَيْضَةُ البَلَدِ The egg of the ostrich, which it abandons in the place where it lays it, in the sand, or in a desert: (M, L:) also called البَلَدِيَّةِ↓ and ذَاتُ البَلَدِ. (M.) You say, فُلَانٌ بَيْضَةُ البَلَدِ [‡ Such a one is like the egg of the ostrich,, &c.], meaning such a one is unequalled, or unparalleled: said in dispraise and in praise: (M,* L:) allowed by AʼObeyd to be used in praise: and said by El-Bekree to be applied to him who is separated from his family and near relations. (TA.) [See also article بيض.] You also say, هُوَ أَذَلُّ مِنْ بَيْضَةِ البَلَدِ (S, M, A) ‡ He is more object, or vile, than the egg of the ostrich, which it abandons (S, TA) in the desert, and to which it does not return. (TA.) [See again article بيض.] Also هُوَ أَعَزَّ مِنْ بَيْضَةِ البَلَدِ ‡ [He is more highly esteemed than the egg of the ostrich, which it lays in the sand]; because the ostrich spreads its wings over it and sits upon it. (A in article فرخ.) [See more in article بيض] A trace, mark, or vestige, (T, S, M, K, [in the K mentioned in two places, but in the latter of these omitted in the CK,]) of a house, or dwelling: (TA:) and a mark remaining upon the body: (AʼObeyd, T:) plural أَبْلَادٌ. (S, AʼObeyd, M, K.) The origin, or an element, (عُنْصُر,) of a thing. (Th, M, K.) See also the next paragraph, in three places: and see بُلْدَةٌ.