خدن

Arabic

FWOTD – 3 July 2022

Etymology

Univerbation of أَخٌ دَانٍ (ʔaḵun dānin), literally “close brother”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xidn/

Noun

خِدْن • (ḵidn) m or f by sense (plural أَخْدَان (ʔaḵdān)) (countable, archaic)

1. a close friend, an intimate

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ar:friend

   • a. 1941, فؤاد بليبل, بين الشرقِ والغرب:

     لَا تظنَّ الغربَ صَبًّا مفتَتِن
     بِكَ،... فالغربُ وَلوع بفَناكا
     أو تَخَلْهُ خِدنكَ الكاسي المَرِنْ

     Don’t think the West some youth crumbling with thee
     For the West is eager to vie, or deem
     him a glib geezer finessing your brew

2. an amorous companion, a boyfriend or girlfriend; a bedmate
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 4:25:

     وَمَن لَّمْ يَسْتَطِعْ مِنكُمْ طَوْلاً أَن يَنكِحَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ فَمِن مَّا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُم مِّن فَتَيَاتِكُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِإِيمَانِكُمْ بَعْضُكُم مِّن بَعْضٍ فَانكِحُوهُنَّ بِإِذْنِ أَهْلِهِنَّ وَآتُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ مُحْصَنَاتٍ غَيْرَ مُسَافِحَاتٍ وَلَا مُتَّخِذَاتِ أَخْدَانٍ فَإِذَا أُحْصِنَّ فَإِنْ أَتَيْنَ بِفَاحِشَةٍ فَعَلَيْهِنَّ نِصْفُ مَا عَلَى الْمُحْصَنَاتِ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ خَشِيَ الْعَنَتَ مِنكُمْ وَأَن تَصْبِرُواْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

     Now, whoever of you cannot wed the chaste and the faithful, let it be ones from what your right hands possess, from the slave girls among you. Allah knows best of your faithfulness. You may wed these ones with their keepers' consent, bringing these ones their remuneration, chaste ones, neither wanton nor takers of bedfellows. Once screened thus, if they commit vileness, theirs is a scourging, half of that for freewomen. This is there for anyone of you dreading hardship, though to wait is better for you. Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 5:5:

     الْيَوْمَ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتُ وَطَعَامُ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَابَ حِلٌّ لَّكُمْ وَطَعَامُكُمْ حِلُّ لَّهُمْ وَالْمُحْصَنَاتُ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَالْمُحْصَنَاتُ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَابَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ إِذَا آتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ مُحْصِنِينَ غَيْرَ مُسَافِحِينَ وَلَا مُتَّخِذِي أَخْدَانٍ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِالإِيمَانِ فَقَدْ حَبِطَ عَمَلُهُ وَهُوَ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ

     al-yawma ʔuḥilla lakumu ṭ-ṭayyibātu waṭaʕāmu llaḏīna ʔūtuw al-kitāba ḥillun lakum waṭaʕāmukum ḥillu lahum wālmuḥṣanātu mina l-muʔmināti wālmuḥṣanātu mina llaḏīna ʔūtuw al-kitāba min qablikum ʔiḏā ʔātaytumūhunna ʔujūrahunna muḥṣinīna ḡayra musāfiḥīna walā muttaḵiḏī ʔaḵdānin waman yakfur bi-l-ʔīmāni faqad ḥabiṭa ʕamaluhu wahuwa fī l-ʔāḵirati mina l-ḵāsirīna

     This day, wholesome things have been made lawful to you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful to you, and your food is lawful to them, and so are the chaste from among the believers and the chaste from among those who have been given the Book before you, if you give them their remuneration, as chaste men, neither wanton nor takers of bedfellows. Whoever disbelieves in the faith, his work will drain away, and on the Last Day, he will be among the losers.

Declension

Declension of noun خِدْن (ḵidn)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	خِدْن ḵidn	الْخِدْن al-ḵidn	خِدْن ḵidn
Nominative	خِدْنٌ ḵidnun	الْخِدْنُ al-ḵidnu	خِدْنُ ḵidnu
Accusative	خِدْنًا ḵidnan	الْخِدْنَ al-ḵidna	خِدْنَ ḵidna
Genitive	خِدْنٍ ḵidnin	الْخِدْنِ al-ḵidni	خِدْنِ ḵidni
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	خِدْنَيْن ḵidnayn	الْخِدْنَيْن al-ḵidnayn	خِدْنَيْ ḵidnay
Nominative	خِدْنَانِ ḵidnāni	الْخِدْنَانِ al-ḵidnāni	خِدْنَا ḵidnā
Accusative	خِدْنَيْنِ ḵidnayni	الْخِدْنَيْنِ al-ḵidnayni	خِدْنَيْ ḵidnay
Genitive	خِدْنَيْنِ ḵidnayni	الْخِدْنَيْنِ al-ḵidnayni	خِدْنَيْ ḵidnay
Plural	basic broken plural triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَخْدَان ʔaḵdān	الْأَخْدَان al-ʔaḵdān	أَخْدَان ʔaḵdān
Nominative	أَخْدَانٌ ʔaḵdānun	الْأَخْدَانُ al-ʔaḵdānu	أَخْدَانُ ʔaḵdānu
Accusative	أَخْدَانًا ʔaḵdānan	الْأَخْدَانَ al-ʔaḵdāna	أَخْدَانَ ʔaḵdāna
Genitive	أَخْدَانٍ ʔaḵdānin	الْأَخْدَانِ al-ʔaḵdāni	أَخْدَانِ ʔaḵdāni

Alternative forms

• خَدِين (ḵadīn)

Derived terms

• خُدْنَة (ḵudna, “one who associates with people as their خِدْن (ḵidn) much”)
• أَخْدَن (ʔaḵdan, “provided with أَخْدَان (ʔaḵdān)”)
• خَادَنَ (ḵādana, “to be private friends with”)

References

• Corriente, Federico, Pereira, Christophe, Vicente, Angeles, editors (2017), Dictionnaire du faisceau dialectal arabe andalou. Perspectives phraséologiques et étymologiques (in French), Berlin: De Gruyter, →ISBN, page 398
• Freytag, Georg (1830) “خدن”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[1] (in Latin), volume 1, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 468a
• Kazimirski, Albin de Biberstein (1860) “خدن”, in Dictionnaire arabe-français contenant toutes les racines de la langue arabe, leurs dérivés, tant dans l’idiome vulgaire que dans l’idiome littéral, ainsi que les dialectes d’Alger et de Maroc‎^[2] (in French), volume 1, Paris: Maisonneuve et C^ie, pages 548b–549a
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “خدن”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[3], London: Williams & Norgate, page 712
• Wehr, Hans (1979) “خدن”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 268a