رصاص

Arabic

Etymology

According to Arabic lexicographic tradition, derived from رَصَّ (raṣṣa, “to stick firmly, to join compactly, to make even or level, to file, to pile, to close”), “due to the interjoining of its parts”, but the metal meaning has been identified by Scher with Persian ارزیز (arzīz, “tin”), which for formal reasons and chronology would have to be specified as a semantic loan from Parthian *arčīč, cognate to Middle Armenian արճիճ (arčič, “lead”), though Fraenkel contended that “to stick firmly” could have led to the metal meaning via the meaning “to solder”.

Root
ر ص ص (r ṣ ṣ)
5 terms

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ra.sˤaːsˤ/

Noun

رَصَاص • (raṣāṣ) m (collective, singulative رَصَاصَة f (raṣāṣa))

1. lead

   Alternative form: رَزَاز (razāz)

   Synonyms: رَصَاص أَسْوَد (raṣāṣ ʔaswad), أُسْرُب (ʔusrub), آنُك (ʔānuk), أَبَار (ʔabār)

2. (obsolete) tin

   Alternative form: رَزَاز (razāz)

   Synonyms: رَصَاص أَبْيَض (raṣāṣ ʔabyaḍ), رَصَاص قَلَعِيّ (raṣāṣ qalaʕiyy), قَصْدِير (qaṣdīr)

   • 7th century CE, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 15:523:

     وَلَا يُرِيدُ أَحَدٌ أَهْلَ الْمَدِينَةِ بِسُوءٍ إِلَّا أَذَابَهُ اللَّهُ فِي النَّارِ ذَوْبَ الرَّصَاصِ أَوْ ذَوْبَ الْمِلْحِ فِي الْمَاءِ

     walā yurīdu ʔaḥadun ʔahla l-madīnati bisūʔin ʔillā ʔaḏāba-hū l-lahu fī n-nāri ḏawba ar-raṣāṣi ʔaw ḏawba l-milḥi fī l-māʔi

     None should nurse ill-will towards the people of Medina, or God will melt him in fire like tin or like salt is in water.

   • a. 1283, Abū Yahyā Zakariyāʾ ibn Muhammad al-Qazwīnīy, edited by Ferdinand Wüstenfeld, عجائب المخلوقات وغرائب الموجودات [ʿajāʾib al-maḵlūqāt wa-ḡarāʾib al-mawjūdāt]‎^[1], Göttingen: Verlag der Dieterichschen Buchhandlung, published 1849, →DOI, page 208:

     اَلْأُسْرُبُ يَتَوَلَّدُ كَٱلرَّصَاصُ وَهُوَ صِنْفٌ رَدِئٌ مِنْهُ

     al-ʔusrubu yatawalladu kar-raṣāṣu wahuwa ṣinfun radiʔun minhu

     Lead comes about like tin but is a worse kind thereof.

3. bullets, shots, dots

   Synonyms: گُلَل (gulal), بُنْدُق (bunduq)

4. (obsolete) stones heaped together to surround a grave or well

   Alternative form: رَصْرَاص (raṣrāṣ)

Declension

Declension of noun رَصَاص (raṣāṣ)

collective	basic collective triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	رَصَاص raṣāṣ	الرَّصَاص ar-raṣāṣ	رَصَاص raṣāṣ
nominative	رَصَاصٌ raṣāṣun	الرَّصَاصُ ar-raṣāṣu	رَصَاصُ raṣāṣu
accusative	رَصَاصًا raṣāṣan	الرَّصَاصَ ar-raṣāṣa	رَصَاصَ raṣāṣa
genitive	رَصَاصٍ raṣāṣin	الرَّصَاصِ ar-raṣāṣi	رَصَاصِ raṣāṣi
singulative	singulative triptote in ـَة (-a)
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	رَصَاصَة raṣāṣa	الرَّصَاصَة ar-raṣāṣa	رَصَاصَة raṣāṣat
nominative	رَصَاصَةٌ raṣāṣatun	الرَّصَاصَةُ ar-raṣāṣatu	رَصَاصَةُ raṣāṣatu
accusative	رَصَاصَةً raṣāṣatan	الرَّصَاصَةَ ar-raṣāṣata	رَصَاصَةَ raṣāṣata
genitive	رَصَاصَةٍ raṣāṣatin	الرَّصَاصَةِ ar-raṣāṣati	رَصَاصَةِ raṣāṣati
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	رَصَاصَتَيْن raṣāṣatayn	الرَّصَاصَتَيْن ar-raṣāṣatayn	رَصَاصَتَيْ raṣāṣatay
nominative	رَصَاصَتَانِ raṣāṣatāni	الرَّصَاصَتَانِ ar-raṣāṣatāni	رَصَاصَتَا raṣāṣatā
accusative	رَصَاصَتَيْنِ raṣāṣatayni	الرَّصَاصَتَيْنِ ar-raṣāṣatayni	رَصَاصَتَيْ raṣāṣatay
genitive	رَصَاصَتَيْنِ raṣāṣatayni	الرَّصَاصَتَيْنِ ar-raṣāṣatayni	رَصَاصَتَيْ raṣāṣatay
paucal (3-10)	sound feminine paucal
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	رَصَاصَات raṣāṣāt	الرَّصَاصَات ar-raṣāṣāt	رَصَاصَات raṣāṣāt
nominative	رَصَاصَاتٌ raṣāṣātun	الرَّصَاصَاتُ ar-raṣāṣātu	رَصَاصَاتُ raṣāṣātu
accusative	رَصَاصَاتٍ raṣāṣātin	الرَّصَاصَاتِ ar-raṣāṣāti	رَصَاصَاتِ raṣāṣāti
genitive	رَصَاصَاتٍ raṣāṣātin	الرَّصَاصَاتِ ar-raṣāṣāti	رَصَاصَاتِ raṣāṣāti

Descendants

• → Acholi: ràcáàc
• → Alur: risasi
• → Middle Armenian: ռիսաս (ṙisas)
• → Bari: rasas
• → Bende: iisaáse
• → Dinka: rasas
• → Lingala: masási
• → Lotuko: arryas
• → Luba-Katanga: disashi
• → Luo: racac
• → Matengo: lisâsi
• → Rukiga: rusasi
• → Rwanda-Rundi: isâsu
• → Sango: lichasi
• → Swahili: risasi
  • → Digo: risasi
  • → Jita: ri-saási
  • → Kikuyu: rĩthathi
  • → Luganda: `ssasì
  • → Nyakyusa: ilísasí
  • → Nyankole: iːsási, amasási, kisási
• → Zande: lisasi

References

• Asbaghi, Asya (1988) Persische Lehnwörter im Arabischen‎^[2] (in German), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 136
• Baldi, Sergio (2020 November 30) Dictionary of Arabic Loanwords in the Languages of Central and East Africa (Handbuch der Orientalistik; Erste Abteilung: Der Nahe und der Mittlere Osten; 145), Leiden • Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 121–122 Nr. 1083
• Corriente, F. (1997) A Dictionary of Andalusi Arabic (Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East; 29)‎^[3], Leiden, New York, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 209b
• 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 537
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 152
• Freytag, Georg (1833) “رصاص”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[4] (in Latin), volume 2, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 154a
• Lane, Edward William (1863-1893) “رصاص”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, page 1092.
• S̲h̲er, Addaï (1908) كتاب الالفاظ الفارسية المعرَّبة (in Arabic), Bayrūt: المطبعة الكاثوليكية للاباء اليسوعيين, page 73
• Siddiqi, Abdussattar (1919) Studien über die Persischen Fremdwörter im klassischen Arabisch (in German), Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, pages 38–39
• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884) “رصاص”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎^[5], London: W.H. Allen, page 416
• Wehr, Hans (1979) “رصاص”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 396

South Levantine Arabic

Root
ر ص ص
2 terms

Etymology

From Arabic رَصَاص (raṣāṣ).

Noun

رصاص • (rṣāṣ) m (collective, singulative رصاصة f (rṣāṣe), paucal رصاصات (rṣāṣāt))

1. (uncountable) lead
2. (uncountable) bullets