Core sense — a thing, anything, something; in algebra, a square rootgenerated
1a thing; anything; something; somewhat—الشَّىْءُ
A word of well-known meaning. [Sometimes, in poetry, written and pronounced شَىٌّ: see an example in a verse cited under صُؤَابَةٌ.]
Properly it means what may be known, and that of which a thing may be predicated.
Sb: it denotes existence, and is a name for anything that has been made to have being, whether an accident, an attribute, or a substance, and such that it may be known and that a thing may be predicated of it.
MF says that it seems to be a maṣdar used in the sense of an ism mafʿūl, meaning what is willed, and meant or intended, [a sense in which مَشِيْئَةٌ (plural مَشِيْآتٌ) is often used,] without restriction to its actuality or possibility of being, so that it applies to what necessarily is, to what may be, and to what cannot be; this is the opinion adopted by the author of the Ksh.
[Or, as a maṣdar in the sense of an ism mafʿūl, it may be explained, in agreement with what is said to be the proper meaning of the verb, as what is caused to be or exist.]
Er-Rāghib: it denotes whatever is caused to be or exist, whether sensibly, like material substances, or ideally, like sayings.
Bd and others state expressly that it means specifically what is caused to be or exist; but Sb says that it is the most general of general terms.
Some of the scholastic theologians apply it to what is non-existent; their argument, however, is defeated by the fact that the Arabs are not found to have used it so, and by such passages as كُلُّ شَىْءٍ هَالِكٌ إِلَّا وَجْهَهُ [Everything is subject to perish except Himself (Kur 28, last verse)] and وَإِنْ مِنْ شَىْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ [And there is not anything but it glorifies Him with praising (Kur 17:46)], for what is non-existent cannot be described as perishing, nor imagined to glorify God.
The plural is أَشْيَآءُ, imperfectly declinable, or rather this is an ism jamʿ, about whose formation there is much difference of opinion; also أَشْيَاوَاتٌ, a plural of a plural [i. e. plural of أَشْيَآءٌ]; and أَشَاوَاتٌ, [a contraction of the one before it,] and أَشَاوَى, with fet-h to the و, and it is also mentioned as with kesr.
[It is written in both of my copies of the S أَشَاوَى, though if with kesr it should be either أَشَاوٍ or أَشَاوِىُّ; but only أَشَاوَى is meant by J, as what follows shows.]
Originally أَشَايِىُّ, with three ى s, not أَشَائِىُّ as J says, [or rather as the word is written in copies of the S, for J may have held it to be أَشَائِىُّ or أَشَايِىْءُ, as he says that the ء was changed into ى, thus producing a combination of three ى s, so that he held its secondary form to be أَشَايِىُّ, as will presently be shown,] because the first ى is radical, not augmentative, the medial ى of the three being suppressed, the final one changed into ا [though written ى], and the initial one changed into و.
Another form of plural is أَشَايَا, with the ى preserved and not changed into و [as it is in أَشَاوَى]; this is [likewise] a plural of أَشْيَآءُ. And أَشَيَايَا is also mentioned, as formed [from أَشْيَآءُ] by changing ء into ى and adding ا and أَشَاوِهُ — which is strange, since there is no ه in أَشَيَآءُ or in شَىْءٌ.
As to the first of these forms, [the ism jamʿ] أَشَيَآءُ, the most probable opinion is that of Kh: according to him it is originally of the measure فَعْلَآءُ in place of أَفْعَالٌ, and therefore imperfectly declinable; that is, it is originally شَيْئَآءُ, and since the two hemzehs coming together in the latter part are hard to pronounce, the former of them is transposed to the beginning of the word, so that it becomes of the measure لَفْعَآءُ — as is shown by its having for its plurals أَشَاوَى, أَشَايَا and أَشْيَاوَاتٌ.
Akh holds it to be [originally] of the measure أَفْعِلَآءُ; but if it were on that account a broken plural, [not an ism jamʿ,] its diminutive would not be أُشْيَّآءُ, as it is, but شُيَيْآتٌ.
Ks holds it to be of the measure أَفْعَالٌ, made imperfectly declinable because of frequency of use, on the analogy of فَعْلَآءُ; but were that so, أَبْنَآء and أَسْمَآء would be imperfectly declinable.
Fr holds شَىْءٌ to be originally شَيِّئٌ, and therefore to have a plural of the measure أَفْعِلَآءُ, afterwards contracted to فَعْلَآءُ; but were that so, it would not have أَشَاوَى for its plural. [Much more about this plural is added in the TA, but it is comparatively unprofitable.]
The diminutive of شَىْءٌ is شُيَىْءٌ and شِيَىْءٌ (but only the former in some copies of the K, the word being written in other copies شُِيَىْءٌ), not شُوَىٌّ or شُوَىْءٌ (the former according to my two copies of the S and according to the copies of the K followed in the TA, where it is said to be with teshdeed to the ى, and the latter according to the CK and my manuscript copy of the K); or this last is a dialectal variant of weak authority, used by post-classical poets in their verses.
Qur’ān 17:44 matched to Lane’s own quotation of it Lane cites “Kur xvii. 46”
Qur’ān 17:44 Lane quotes this verse
تُسَبِّحُ لَهُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتُ ٱلسَّبْعُ وَٱلْأَرْضُ وَمَن فِيهِنَّ ۚ وَإِن مِّن شَىْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِۦ وَلَـٰكِن لَّا تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ ۗ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ حَلِيمًا غَفُورًاThe seven heavens and the earth, and all beings therein, declare His glory: there is not a thing but celebrates His praise; And yet ye understand not how they declare His glory! Verily He is Oft-Forbear, Most Forgiving!Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’ān (1934)
1.1nothing—لَا شَيْئًا
for nothing—لِلَا شَىْءٍ
nothing—لَا شَىْءٌ
The answer when a man says to you, “What do you desire?”
The answer when he says, “Why did you do that?”
The answer when he says, “What is your affair?”
As and AHát: it has tenween in every one of these cases.
[When one says لَا شَىْءَ, the meaning is There is nothing.]
1.2it is nought, of no account or weight; it is not worth anything—لَيْسَ بِشَىْءٍ
It is not a good thing; or it is not a thing to be regarded.
1.3he has no concern with the affair—لَيْسَ مِنَ الأَمْرِ فِى شَىْءٍ
A phrase of frequent occurrence; see two examples in the first paragraph of art. حوص.
1.4in it is somewhat, or some degree, of length; it is somewhat long—فِيهِ شَىْءٍِ مِنَ الطُّولِ
It occurs in the TA under حُسْبَانَةٌ, and is used in the present day in this sense.
1.5he is better than you in something; he is somewhat better than you—هُوَ أَحْسَنُ مِنْكَ شَيْئًا
In this phrase the last word stands for بِشَىْءٍ.
1.6how unmindful of you he is as to anything!—مَا أَغْفَلَهُ عَنْكَ شَيْئًا
IJ says that شيئا is here in the accusative case as a maṣdar, as though the saying were مَا أَغْفَلَهُ عَنْكَ غُفُولًا, because the verb of wonder does not need to be corroborated by its own maṣdar; or it is a specificative.
IF says that it is a phrase of doubtful meaning, and that the most likely explanation is this: ما is here literally interrogative, but in meaning denotes wonder; and شيئا is put in the accusative case by some other word or phrase, as though the saying were: dismiss a thing by which he is not occupied in mind, and dismiss doubt as to his being occupied in mind by it. This is in the TA under art. ما.
dismiss doubt from yourself (about him as to anything)—دَعِ الشَّكَّ عَنْكَ
A phrase of the Arabs; this is apparently its literal meaning.
Sb mentions it as having this meaning.
1.7thing by thing, part by part, bit by bit, piecemeal, little by little, by degrees—شَيْئًا فَشَيْئًا
1.8what thing?—أَىُّ شَىْءٍ
By lightening the ى [in اىّ] and suppressing the ء [in شىء], it is made into one word, أَيْشَىْ: so says El-Fárábee.
Or, as is commonly the case in the present day, by reason of frequency of use it is contracted into أَيْشَ.
1.9any one or more—شَىْءٌ
This may be the meaning in the Kur 60:11.
Qur’ān 60:11 matched to Lane’s own quotation of it Lane cites “Kur lx. 11”
Qur’ān 60:11 Lane quotes this verse
وَإِن فَاتَكُمْ شَىْءٌ مِّنْ أَزْوَٰجِكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْكُفَّارِ فَعَاقَبْتُمْ فَـَٔاتُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ ذَهَبَتْ أَزْوَٰجُهُم مِّثْلَ مَآ أَنفَقُوا۟ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنتُم بِهِۦ مُؤْمِنُونَAnd if any of your wives deserts you to the Unbelievers, and ye have an accession (by the coming over of a woman from the other side), then pay to those whose wives have deserted the equivalent of what they had spent (on their dower). And fear Allah, in Whom ye believe.Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’ān (1934)
1.10figurative · مجاز — inferred
It is also applied to the penis of a man, as in the explanation of a phrase mentioned under ذَنَبٌ; just as its synonym هَنٌ is applied to the same, and more commonly to the vulva of a woman.
1.11
In algebra it means a square root: a number that is multiplied into itself.
In arithmetic [and in algebra also] this is called جذر [i. e. جَذْرٌ]; and in geometry, ضلع [i. e. ضِلْعٌ or ضِلَعٌ]. (“Dict. of the Techn. Terms used in the Sciences of the Musalmans,” p. 202.)
An unknown number that is multiplied into itself. (Same work, p. 730.)
2
Lth is reported as saying that it also means water, and he cites as an example: [You see his company of riders at the water in the midst of a desert]
shāhidتَرَى رَكْبَهُ بِالشَّىْءِ فِى وَسْطِ قَفْرَةٍ
But AM says: I do not know الشىء in the sense of “water”, nor do I know what it is.
3oh! or O my wonder!—يَا شَىْءَ
An expression of regret (El-Ahmar) or of wonder, [or of both].
One says يَا شَىْءَ مَا لِى (El-Ahmar) and يَا شَىَّ مَا لِى, that is, with and without ء; and يَا هَىْءَ مَا لِى, يا هَىَّ ما لى and يَا فَىَّ ما لى (El-Ahmar), neither of these last two with ء — meaning Oh! or O my wonder! What has happened to me?
In all of these, ما stands in the place of a noun in the nominative case.
3.1
Some also say يَا شَىْءَ, يَا هَىَّ and يَا فَىَّ, and some add مَا, saying يَا شَىْءَ مَا, يَا هَىَّ مَا and يَا فَىَّ مَا, meaning How good, or beautiful, is this!
Qur’ānic occurrences شَىْء 5 shown of 266
19:89
لَّقَدْ جِئْتُمْ شَيْـًٔا إِدًّاIndeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous!
26:30
قَالَ أَوَلَوْ جِئْتُكَ بِشَىْءٍ مُّبِينٍ(Moses) said: "Even if I showed you something clear (and) convincing?"
54:52
وَكُلُّ شَىْءٍ فَعَلُوهُ فِى ٱلزُّبُرِAll that they do is noted in (their) Books (of Deeds):
78:29
وَكُلَّ شَىْءٍ أَحْصَيْنَـٰهُ كِتَـٰبًاAnd all things have We preserved on record.
80:18
مِنْ أَىِّ شَىْءٍ خَلَقَهُۥFrom what stuff hath He created him?
Occurrences of this form in the Qur’ān, not Lane’s choice of verse. They show the word in use; they do not say which sense above applies. Where more occur than are shown, the shortest āyāt are chosen.
Show Lane's original text
[A thing; anything; something; somewhat;] a word of well-known meaning: (K:) [sometimes, in poetry, written and pronounced شَىٌّ : see an ex. in a verse cited voce صُؤَابَةٌ : see also the last sentence but one of this paragraph:] الشَّىْءُ properly signifies what may be known, and that whereof a thing may be predicated: (Mgh, KT:) accord. to Sb, it denotes existence, and is a name for anything that has been made to have being, whether an accident, or attribute, or a substance, and such that it may be known, and that a thing may be predicated thereof: (KT:) MF says that it is app. an inf. n. used in the sense of a pass. part. n., meaning what is willed, and meant, or intended, [in which sense مَشِيْئَةٌ (pl. مَشِيْآتٌ ) is often used,] without restriction to its actuality or possibility of being, so that it applies to that which necessarily is, and that which may be, and that which cannot be; accord. to the opinion adopted by the author of the Ksh: [or, as an inf. n. in the sense of a pass. part. n., it may be expl., agreeably with what is said to be the proper meaning of the verb, as signifying what is caused to be or exist; accordingly,] Er-Rághib says that it denotes whatever is caused to be or exist, whether sensibly, as material substances, or ideally, as sayings; and Bd and others expressly assert that it signifies peculiarly what is caused to be or exist; but Sb says that it is the most general of general terms; and some of the scholastic theologians apply it to what is non-existent; such, however, are overcome in their argument by its not being found to have been thus used by the Arabs, and by such passages as كُلُّ شَىْءٍ هَالِكٌ إِلَّا وَجْهَهُ [Everything is subject to perish except Himself (Kur xxviii. last verse)] and وَإِنْ مِنْ شَىْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ [And there is not anything but it glorifies Him with praising (Kur xvii. 46)], for what is nonexistent cannot be described as perishing nor imagined to glorify God: (TA:) the pl. is أَشْيَآءُ , (S, Msb, K, &c.,) imperfectly decl., (Msb, TA,) or rather this is a quasi-pl. n., (Sb, TA,) respecting the formation of which there is much difference of opinion [as will be shown hereafter], (Msb, TA,) and أَشْيَاوَاتٌ , (S, K,) a pl. pl. [i. e. pl. of أَشْيَآءٌ ], (MF, TA,) and أَشَاوَاتٌ , [a contraction of that next preceding,] (K,) and أَشَاوَى , (S, K,) with fet-h to the و , (MF, TA,) and it is also mentioned as with kesr, (TA,) [and is written in both of my copies of the S أَشَاوَى , though if with kesr it should be either أَشَاوٍ or أَشَاوِىُّ , but أَشَاوَى only is meant by J, as is shown by what here follows,] originally أَشَايِىُّ , with three ى s, not أَشَائِىُّ as J says, [or rather as the word is written in copies of the S, for J may have held it to be أَشَائِىُّ or أَشَايِىْءُ , as he says that the ء was changed into ى thus occasioning the combination of three ى s, so that he held its secondary form to be أَشَايِىُّ , as will presently be shown,] because the first ى is radical, not augmentative, (IB, K,) the medial ى of the three being suppressed, and the final one changed into ا [though written ى ], and the initial one changed into و , (S,) and another form of pl. is أَشَايَا , (S, Msb, K,) with the ى preserved, not changed into و [as it is in أَشَاوَى ], (TA,) [likewise] a pl. of أَشْيَآءُ , (Msb,) and أَشَيَايَا also is mentioned, (K,) as formed [from أَشْيَآءُ ] by the change of ء into ى and adding ا , (TA,) and أَشَاوِهُ , which is strange, (Lh, K,) as there is no ه in أَشَيَآءُ , (Lh,) or in شَىْءٌ : (K:) with respect to the first of these forms, [the quasi-pl. n.] أَشَيَآءُ , the most probable opinion is that of Kh: (Msb, TA:) accord. to him, (S, Msb, K,) it is originally of the measure فَعْلَآءُ , (S, K, *) in lieu of أَفْعَالٌ , (K,) and therefore imperfectly decl., (S,) [i. e.] it is originally شَيْئَآءُ , (Msb,) and the two hemzehs combined in the latter portion being found difficult of pronunciation, the former of them is transposed to the beginning of the word, so that it becomes of the measure لَفْعَآءُ , (S, Msb,) as is shown by its having for its pls. أَشَاوَى and أَشَايَا and أَشْيَاوَاتٌ : (S:) accord. to Akh, it is [originally] of the measure أَفْعِلَآءُ ; (S, K;) but if it were thus a broken pl., [not a quasi-pl. n.,] its dim. would not be أُشْيَّآءُ , as it is, but شُيَيْآتٌ : (S:) accord. to Ks, it is of the measure أَفْعَالٌ , and made imperfectly decl. because of frequency of usage, being likened to فَعْلَآءُ ; but were it so, أَبْنَآء and أَسْمَآء would be imperfectly decl.: (S, K:) accord. to Fr, شَىْءٌ is originally شَيِّئٌ , and therefore has a pl. of the measure أَفْعِلَآءُ , afterwards contracted to فَعْلَآءُ ; but were it so, it would not have for its pl. أَشَاوَى . (S. [Much more respecting this pl. is added in the TA, but it is comparatively unprofitable.]) The dim. of شَىْءٌ is شُيَىْءٌ and شِيَىْءٌ ; (S, K, TA, but only the former in some copies of the K, the word being written in other copies شُِيَىْءٌ ;) not شُوَىٌّ , or شُوَىْءٌ ; (the former accord. to my two copies of the S and accord. to the copies of the K followed in the TA, in which it is said to be with teshdeed to the ى , and the latter accord. to the CK and my MS. copy of the K;) or this is a dial. var. of weak authority, (K,) used by post-classical poets in their verses. (MF, TA.) When a man says to thee, “ What dost thou desire? ” thou answerest, لَا شَيْئًا [Nothing]: and when he says, “ Why didst thou that? ” thou answerest, لِلَا شَىْءٍ [For nothing]: and when he says, “ What is thine affair? ” thou answerest, لَا شَىْءٌ [Nothing]: it is with tenween in every one of these cases. (As, AHát, TA.) [When one says لَا شَىْءَ , he means thereby There is nothing.] لَيْسَ بِشَىْءٍ means [It is nought, of no account or weight; it is not worthy of notice, or not worth anything;] it is not a good thing; or it is not a thing to be regarded. (W p. 27.) [ لَيْسَ مِنَ الأَمْرِ فِى شَىْءٍ is a phrase of frequent occurrence, meaning He has no concern with the affair; see two exs. in the first paragraph of art. حوص . فِيهِ شَىْءٍِ مِنَ الطُّولِ occurs in the TA voce حُسْبَانَةٌ , meaning In it is somewhat, or some degree, of length; i. e. it is somewhat long; and is used in the present day in this sense.] In the phrase هُوَ أَحْسَنُ مِنْكَ شَيْئًا , the last word is for بِشَىْءٍ [i. e. He is better than thou in something; meaning he is somewhat better than thou]. (IJ, L.) مَا أَغْفَلَهُ عَنْكَ شَيْئًا is a phrase of the Arabs [app. lit. signifying How unmindful of thee is he as to anything!] mentioned by Sb as meaning دَعِ الشَّكَّ عَنْكَ [Dismiss doubt from thee (respecting him as to anything)]: IJ says that شيئا is here put in the accus. case as an inf. n., as though the saying were مَا أَغْفَلَهُ عَنْكَ غُفُولًا , because the verb of wonder does not require to be corroborated by the inf. n. [proper to it]: (L, TA:) [or it is a specificative:] IF says that it is a phrase of dubious meaning; and that the most probable explanation of it is this; that ما is here lit. interrogative, but in meaning denotative of wonder; and that شيئا is governed in the accus. case by some other word, or phrase, as though the saying were dismiss a thing by which he is not occupied in mind, and dismiss doubt as to his being occupied in mind by it. (TA in art. ما .) [ شَيْئًا فَشَيْئًا means Thing by thing, part by part, bit by bit, piecemeal, inch by inch, drop by drop, little and little in succession, by little and little, by degrees or gradually.] أَىُّ شَىْءٍ [meaning What thing?] is, by the alleviation of the ى [in اىّ ] and the suppression of the ء [in شىء ], made into one word, أَيْشَىْ : so says El-Fárábee: (Msb:) or, [as is commonly the case in the present day,] by reason of frequency of usage, it is contracted into أَيْشَ . (TA in art. جرم , as on the authority of Ks.) شَىْءٌ in the Kur lx. 11 may mean Any one (Bd, Jel) or more. (Jel.) [It is also applied to The penis of a man; as in the explanation of a phrase mentioned voce ذَنَبٌ ; like as its syn. هَنٌ is to the same and (more commonly) to the “ vulva ” of a woman.] In algebra, it signifies [A square root;] a number that is multiplied into itself; which in arithmetic [and in algebra also] is called جذر [i. e. جَذْرٌ ]; and in geometry, ضلع [i. e. ضِلْعٌ or ضِلَعٌ ]; (“ Dict. of the Techn. Terms used in the Sciences of the Musalmans, ” p. 202;) an unknown number that is multiplied into itself. (Idem, p. 730.) It is also said, on the authority of Lth, to signify Water: and he cites as an ex., 1 [Thou seest, or wilt see, his company of riders at the water in the midst of a desert]: but AM says, I know not الشىء in the sense of “ water, ” nor know I what it is. (TA.) تَرَى رَكْبَهُ بِالشَّىْءِ فِى وَسْطِ قَفْرَةٍ يَا شَىْءَ is an expression of regret, (El-Ahmar, Ks, TA,) or of wonder, (K, TA,) [or of both,] meaning [Oh! or] O my wonder! (Ks, Lh, TA.) One says, يَا شَىْءَ مَا لِى , (El-Ahmar, Ks, Lh, K,) and يَا شَىَّ مَا لِى , i. e. with and without ء , (Ks, TA,) and يَا هَىْءَ مَا لِى , (Lh, K,) يا هَىَّ ما لى , and يَا فَىَّ ما لى , (El-Ahmar, Ks, TA,) neither of these two with ء , (Ks, TA,) [meaning Oh! or O my wonder! What has happened to me?] in all of these, (Ks, TA,) ما being in the place of a noun in the nom. case. (Ks, Lh, TA.) Some also say, يَا شَىْءَ and يَا هَىَّ and يَا فَىَّ , and some add مَا , saying, يَا شَىْءَ مَا and يَا هَىَّ مَا and يَا فَىَّ مَا , meaning How good, or beautiful, is this! (Ks, TA.)