مَعْزٌ

, and ↓ مَعَزٌ, (S, A, Msb, K,) gen. ns., (S, Msb,) [or rather quasi-plural ns., signifying Goats;] the kind of غَنَم opposed to ضَأْنٌ; (S, A, K;) the kind of عَنَم that have hair; (Msb, TA;) the ضأْن being those that have wool; (TA;) as also ↓ مِعْزًى, (S, Msb, K,) according to Sb, (S,) with tenween, (S, Msb,) when indeterminate, (Msb,) and perfectly decl., (S,) the ا [which is written ى] being a letter of quasicoördination, not a characteristic of the feminine gender, (S, Msb,) for the word is quasi-coördinate to دِرْهَمٌ, of the measure فِعْلَلٌ; for the ا of quasi-coördination follows the same rules as a letter belonging to the word itself, as is shown by their saying ↓ مُعَيْزٍ and أُرَيْطٍ [originally مُعَيْزِىٌ and أُرَيْطِىٌ] as the diminutive forms of مِعْزًى and أَرْطًى with tenween, the letter next after the ى of diminution being with kesr, like as they say دُرَيْهِمٌ; for if the ا were to denote the feminine gender they would not change it into ى [in مُعَيْزِىٌ, the original form of مُعَيْزٍ,] like as they do not change it in the dims. of حُبْلَى and أَخْرَى [which are حُبَيْلَى and أُخَيْزَى]: (S:) it is sometimes made feminine, [by being written or pronounced مِعْزَاةٌ,] and sometimes it is made imperfectly decl. [and therefore without tenween]: (K:) Fr says, that it is [itself] feminine, but that some make it masculine [and therefore with tenween]: but A 'Obeyd says, that most of the Arabs pronounce ذِفْرَى without tenween, while some of them pronounce it with tenween, whereas all of them pronounce مِعْزًى with tenween: (S:) IAar says, that it is perfectly decl. when likened to the measure مِفْعَلٌ, and imperfectly decl. when held to accord. with the measure فِعْلَى: (TA:) according to Aboo-'Amr, Ibn-El-'Alà, it is from مَعَزٌ, [verbal noun of مَعِزَ,] and in like manner ذِفْرَى is from ذَفَرٌ: (As, S:) ↓ مَعِيزٌ also signifies the same as مَعْزٌ, (S, A, K,) or is plural of مَعْزٌ, [or rather a quasi-plural n.] like as عَبِيدٌ is of عَبْدٌ; (Msb;) and ↓ أُمْعُوزٌ also is synonym with مَعْزٌ, (S, K,) and so are ↓ مِعَازٌ (K) and ↓ مِعْزَاءٌ: (Sgh, K:) [respecting أُمْعُوزٌ, see also below:] مَعْزٌ [as well as its syns. mentioned above, like all quasi-plural ns., is sometimes masculine, but generally] is feminine: (Msb:) a male is called ↓ مَاعِزٌ, (S, A, Msb, K,) and so a female; (Msb, K;) or a female is called ↓ مَاعِزَةٌ (S, A, TA) [and ↓ مَعْزَةٌ (M, voce شَرْقَاءُ)] and ↓ مِعْزَاة; (TA;) and شَاةٌ [or rather شَاةٌ مِنَ المَعْزِ] is also used as a singular, (Msb,) and is applied to a male and to a female: (Msb, article شوه:) [see also ظَبْىٌ:] أَمْعُزٌ is a plural [of pauc.] of مَعْزٌ, like as أَعْبُدٌ is of عَبْدٌ: (Msb:) the plural of ↓ مَاعِزٌ, (K,) or of مَاعِزَةٌ, (S,) is مَوَاعِزُ; (S, K;) and ↓ مِعَازٌ and ↓ أُمْعُوزٌ are said to be quasi-plural ns. (TA.) The goats of the Arabs of the desert have short hair, not long enough to be spun; but the goats of the cold countries, and of the people of the fertile regions, have abundant hair, and of this the Akrád [or Kurds] fabricate their tents. (T in article بنى.) See also تَدْمُرِىٌّ in article دمر; and see ضَايءِنٌ in article ضأن.