ثَعْلَبٌ
1.
[The fox; canis vulpes of Linn.: but in the dialect of Egypt, the jackal; canis aureus of Linn.: the former animal being there called أَبُو الحُصَيْنِ, as it often is by the Arabs of other countries:] a certain beast of prey; (TA;) well known: (S, K:) applied to the male and the female; so that one says ثَعْلَبٌ ذَكَرٌ and ثَعْلَبٌ
أُنْثَى; but if one would designate the male by a single word applying to it only, he says
ثُعْلُبَانٌ, with damm to the ث and ل: (IAmb, Msb:) or the former applies to the female: (K:) or the female is called
ثَعْلَبَةٌ; (Ks, S, Msb, K;) and the male,
ثُعْلُبَانٌ (Ks, S, K) and ثَعْلَبٌ, (K,) [according to some,] like as one says عَقْرَبَةٌ [and عُقْرُبَانٌ] and عَقْرَبٌ: (Msb:) or ثَعْلَبٌ is the male; and the female is called
ثُعَالَةُ: (Az, TA: [but see this word is article ثعل:]) the plural of ثعلب is ثَعَالِبُ and ثَعَالٍ, (K,) according to Lh: but ISd disapproves of this [latter plural]; and Sb does not allow it except in poetry. (TA.) F charges J with error in citing, as a proof that
ثُعْلُبَانٌ signifies the male, the following verse:
[Is he a Lord, upon whose head the he-fox makes water? (the ب in برأسه being synonym with عَلَى: so in the Mughnee, in article ب:) Vile indeed is he upon whom the foxes make water!] said by a man who was keeper of an idol, on seeing a he-fox make water upon it: but in this, F opposes also Ks and others; and it is asserted by several authorities that the correct reading of the word ثعلبان in a tradition whereby F attempts to establish his charge against J is not ثَعْلَبَانِ, dual. of ثَعْلَبٌ, as he pronounces it to be, but ثُعْلَبَانِ, which is said to be the masculine of ثَعْلَبٌ, like as أُفْعُوَانٌ and عُقْرُبَانٌ are mascs. of أَفْعًى and عَقْرَبٌ. (TA.)أَرَبٌّ يَبُولُ الثُّعْلُبَانُ بِرَأْسِهِلَقَدْ ذَلَّ مَنْ بَالَتْ عَلَيْهِ الثَّعَالِبُ
2.
3.
عِنَبُ الثَّعْلَبِ [Fox-grape: rendered by Golius “ uvæ vulpinæ, i. e. solanum: ” but now applied by some to the gooseberry: and the solanum nigrum, or gardennightshade, is now commonly called عِنَبُ الذِّيءْبِ:] a certain astringent, cooling plant: seven (or, as in one copy of the K, nine) حَبَّات [which here seems to mean berries] thereof, swallowed, are a cure for the jaundice (اليَرَقَان), and stop pregnancy, (K, TA,) like the berries of the
خِرْوَع [or castor-oil-plant], for the year, or, as some say, absolutely. (TA.)
4.
A hole, or aperture, (جُحْر,) whence rain-water flows. (TA.) [And particularly,] The outlet, hole, or aperture, (مَخْرَج, S and Msb, or جُحْر, K, or ثَقْب, TA,) whence the rain-water flows from the place where dates are dried. (S, Msb, K, TA.) And The place whence the water flows forth (L, K) from, (L, TA,) or to, (K, [probably a mistake,]) a watering-trough or tank. (L, K.)