سَنَةٌ

a word of which the final radical letter is rejected, (S, Msb,) and of which there are two dialect vars., (Msb,) being, according to some, originally سَنْهَةٌ, (S, Msb,) like جَبْهَةٌ (S) or سَجْدَةٌ, (Msb,) and accord to others, سَنْوةٌ, (S, * Msb,) like شَهْوَةٌ, and upon each of these originals are founded modifications of the word, (Msb,) therefore it is mentioned in the K [and S and other lexicons] in the present article and again in article سنو, (TA,) A year; synonym حَوْلٌ; (Msb;) or عَامٌ: (M, K:) or, as Suh says, in the R, the سَنَة is longer than the عَام; the latter word being applied to the [twelve] Arabian months [collectively], and thus differing from the former word: (TA:) with the Arabs it consists of four seasons, mentioned before [in article زمن, voce زَمَنٌ]: but sometimes it is tropically applied to (tropical:) a single فَصْل [or quarter]; as in the saying, دَامَ المَطَرُ السَّنَةَ كُلَّهَا, meaning [The rain continued] during the فَصْل [or quarter, all of it]: (Msb:) [see more in article سنو and سنى:] the diminutive is ↓ سُنَيْهَةُ (S, Msb) according to those who make the original of سَنَةٌ to be سَنْهَةٌ, (Msb,) and ↓ سُنَيَّةٌ (S, Msb) according to those who make the original of سَنَةٌ to be سَنْوَةٌ; (Msb;) and some say سُنَيْنَةٌ, but this is rare: (TA:) the plural is سَنَهَاتٌ (Msb, K) according to those who make the original of سَنَةٌ to be سَنْهةٌ, (Msb,) and سَنَوَاتٌ (Msb, K) according to those who make the original of سَنَةٌ to be سَنْوَةٌ; (Msb;) and سِنُونَ also, (S, Msb, K,) like the masculine perfect plural, (Msb,) [agreeably with a rule applying to other cases of this kind,] with kesr, to the س, (S, TA,) and سِنِينَ [in the accusative and gen. cases], (Msb, TA,) so that one says, هٰذِهِ سِنُونَ [These are years], and رَأَيْتُ سِنِينَ [I saw years], (TA,) and the ن is elided when it is prefixed to another noun, governing the latter in the gen. case, (Msb,) and some say سُنُونَ, with damm to the س; (S, TA;) and in one dialect, the ى is retained in all the cases, and the ن is made a letter of declinability, with tenween when the word is indeterminate, [so that one says سِنِينٌ,] and is not elided when the word is prefixed to another noun, governing the latter in the gen. case, because it is [regarded as] one of the radical letters of the word; and of this dialect is the saying of the Prophet, اَللّٰهُمَّ اجْعَلْهَا عَلَيْهِمْ سِنِينًا كَسِنِينِ يُوسُفَ [O God, make them to be to them years like the years of Joseph]; (Msb; [but in my copy of the Mgh, I find كَسِنِى يُوسُفَ;]) or with respect to سِنِينٌ, like مِيءِينٌ, with refa [and tenween], there are two opinions; one is, that it is of the measure فِعْلِينٌ, like غِسْلِينٌ, with a rejection [of one letter], though this is an anomalous plural, for there sometimes occurs among pls. that which has no parallel, as عِدًى, and this is the opinion of Akh; the other is, that it is of the measure فَعِيلٌ, changed to فِعِيلٌ because of the kesreh of the second letter; the plural being in some instances of the measure فَعِيلٌ, like كَلِيبٌ and عَبِيدٌ; but he who holds this opinion makes its final ن to be a substitute for و, and that of مِايءَةٌ a substitute for ى: (S:) you may also suppress the tenween in سِنِينٌ; [in which case it seems that one says سِنِينَ in the nom. case (assimilating it to سِنُونَ) as well as in the accusative and the gen.; like as one does in the instances of بُرِين and بِرِين, pls. of بُرَةٌ, according to the K, though, as I have shown in article برو, there is some doubt on this point;] but the suppression of the tenween in سِنِينٌ is more rare than its pronunciation: (I' Ak p. 18:) and another plural is سُنِىٌّ, [originally سُنُوٌّ,] of the measure فُعُولٌ. (Er-Rághib, TA in article سنو.) The phrase ثَلٰثَ مِايءَةٍ سِنِينَ, in the Qur'an, 18:24, is said by Akh to be for ثَلٰثَمِايءَةٍ مِنَ السِّنِينَ [Three hundred of years]: and he says that if the سِنُون be an explicative of the مِايءَة, it is in the gen. case [to agree with مِايءَةٍ]; and if an explicative of the ثَلٰث, it is in the accusative case [to agree with ثَلٰثَ]. (S. [See also Bd on this phrase; and see De Sacy's Ar. Gr., 2nd ed., i. 423.]) [لِسَنَةٍ, relating to an animal or a plant or the like, means To the completion of a year: and لِسَنَتِهِ, to the completion of his, or its, year; i. e. in his, or its, first year.] And one says, ↓ لَقِيتُهُ مُنْذُ سُنَيَّاتٍ [I met him some years ago; three or more, to ten, years ago]: a phrase like لَقِيتُهُ ذَاتَ العُوَيْمِ. (Az, TA in article عوم.) And ↓ سُنَيَّةٌ is a diminutive of enhancement, of سَنَةٌ: one says سُنَيَّةٌ حَمْرَاءُ A severe year of drought or barrenness or dearth: (TA:) and البِيضِ ↓ وَقَعُوا فِى السُّنَيَّاتِ [They lapsed into the severe years of scantiness of herbage]: these were years that pressed hard upon the people of ElMedeeneh. (K, TA.)

سَنَةٌ [alone] also signifies (tropical:) Drought, or barrenness: (Msb, K, TA:) or vehement, or intense, drought: (TA in article سنو:) an instance of a noun used especially in one of its senses, like دَابَّةٌ applied to “ a horse, ” and مَالٌ applied to “ camels: ” plural, in this, as in the former, sense, سَنَهَاتٌ [and سَنَوَاتٌ] and سِنُونَ and سِنِينٌ. (TA.) One says of a land (أَرْضٌ), أَصَابَتْهَا السَّنَةُ (tropical:) Drought, or barrenness, befell it. (Msb.) And in like manner one says of people, أَصَابَتْهُمُ السَّنَهُ (tropical:) [Drought, &c., befell them]. (TA.) A seeker of herbage and of a place in which to alight was sent to a tract, and found it dried up by want of rain, and when he returned, being asked respecting it, he said, السَّنَةُ, meaning (tropical:) Drought, &c. [has befallen it]. (TA.) And it is said in a tradition, اَللّٰهُمَّ أَعِنِّى عَلَى مُضَرَبِالسَّنَةِ, i. e. (tropical:) [O God, aid me against Mudar] by drought &c. (TA.)

-A2- It is also [used as an epithet,] applied to land (أَرْضٌ), as meaning (tropical:) Affected with drought, or barrenness; (As, S, K;) as also ↓ سَنْهَاءُ and سَنْوَاءُ. (Msb.) One says likewise, هٰذِهِ بِلَادٌ سِنِينٌ (tropical:) These are countries, or tracts, affected with drought &c.: and Et-Tirimmáh says

بِمُنْخَرَقٍ تَحِنُّ الرِّيحُ فِيهِ

حَنِينَ الحُلْبِ فِى البَلَدِ السِّنِينِ

(tropical:) [In a gusty tract, the wind moaning therein like the moaning of the milch ewes or goats (see حَلُوبٌ) in the country affected with drought, or the countries, &c., بَلَد being regarded as a coll. gen. n. and therefore qualified by a plural, like قَوْمٌ in the phrase قَوْمٌ كَافِرُونَ]. (TA.)