ريحان

رِيح (rīḥ, “scent, odor”) +‎ ـَان (-ān). Judging by the form and early meaning, Löw and Nöldeke opt for a borrowing from Aramaic ריחא / ܪܝܚܐ (rēḥā), which is widely used in the plural, ריחני / ܪ̈ܝܚ̈ܢܐ (rēḥānē) in the construct state, for various aromatics.

• IPA^(key): /raj.ħaːn/

رَيْحَان • (rayḥān) m (collective, singulative رَيْحَانَة f (rayḥāna), plural رَيَاحِين (rayāḥīn))

1. (now literary, often in the plural) fragrant plant, aromatic herb
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 55:10-12:

     وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَضَعَهَا لِلْأَنَامِ / فِيهَا فَاكِهَةٌ وَٱلنَّخْلُ ذَاتُ ٱلْأَكْمَامِ / وَٱلْحَبُّ ذُو ٱلْعَصْفِ وَٱلرَّيْحَانُ

     wal-ʔarḍa waḍaʕahā lilʔanāmi / fīhā fākihatun wan-naḵlu ḏātu l-ʔakmāmi / wal-ḥabbu ḏū l-ʕaṣfi war-rayḥānu

     And the earth has He spread out for all living beings, with fruit thereon, and palm trees with sheathed clusters [of dates], and grain growing tall on its stalks, and sweet-smelling plants.

2. basil (Ocimum gen. et spp.)

   Synonym: حَبَق (ḥabaq)

   • a. 1283, Abū Yahyā Zakariyāʾ ibn Muhammad al-Qazwīnīy, edited by Ferdinand Wüstenfeld, عجائب المخلوقات وغرائب الموجودات [ʿajāʾib al-maḵlūqāt wa-ḡarāʾib al-mawjūdāt]‎, Göttingen: Verlag der Dieterichschen Buchhandlung, published 1849, pages 284–285:
3. (al-Andalus, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Cyprus) myrtle (Myrtus gen. et spp.)

   Synonyms: آس (ʔās), مَرْسِين (marsīn), هَدَس (hadas), قُمَام (qumām)

   • c. 1200, يحيى بن محمد بن أحمد بن العوام [yaḥyā ibn muḥammad ibn ʔaḥmad ibn al-ʕawwām], edited by José Antonio Banqueri, كتاب الفلاحة [Book on Agriculture], volume 2, Madrid: Imprenta Real, published 1802^IA, Cap. 29, Art. 15, pages 383–384:

     والكتم قال أبو الخير هو ثلاثة أنواع منها ما له ورق عريض مثل ورق الآس الذي ينبت في الشعرى وهو يعلو كثيرا ويأخذ من التدويح وورقه مشرفة مثل تشريف المنشار ومنه نوع آخر له ورق دون الأول في العرض وتعظم شجرته أيضا وله حب في قدر حب الفلفل والريحان ويعتصر منه دهن يستصبح به ونوع آخر له ورق طويل دقيق مثل ورق المسان وقيل إن مما جرب فصح إنه إن سقى من عصارة ورقه ثمانية دراهم لمن عضه الكلب فإنه يبرئ في ذلك اليوم ويخلص بإذن الله تعالى وأن فزع من الماء فإنه يبرئ والكتم هو شبيه للحناء ويجفف ورقه ويدق نعما ويخلط بالحناء وخضب به الشعر.

     About the mock privet says Abū al-Ḵayr that there are three kinds of it: The first has wide leaves similar to the leaves of the myrtle which grows in the maquis and it becomes very high and swollen and its leaves are humped like a saw, the second has leaves of lesser width but its tree is also poddy and its seeds are of the size of the seeds of peppers and myrtles and from them one can press oil for lighting, and another kind has long delicate leaves like sandpaper and it is said if someone is affected by scabies then he will regain health, that if he whom a dog has bitten drinks eight dirhem from the extract of its leaves he will becomes free from the ailment the same day and cleansed of it if God is gracious; so that he will fear water but he will be free of the pest. Mock privet is similar to henna and one dries its leaves and crushes them well and mixes with henna and dyes the hair with it.

• Ascherson, Paul (1881) “Die aus dem mittlern Nordafrika, dem Gebiete der Rohlfs’schen Expedition nach Kufra bekannt gewordenen Pflanzen”, in Kufra. Reise von Tripolis nach der Oase Kufra, ausgeführt im Auftrage der afrikanischen Gesellschaft in Deutschland, Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus, page 477
• Corriente, Federico, Pereira, Christophe, Vicente, Angeles, editors (2017), Dictionnaire du faisceau dialectal arabe andalou. Perspectives phraséologiques et étymologiques (in French), Berlin: De Gruyter, →ISBN, pages 565–566
• Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne (1881) “ريحان”, in Supplément aux dictionnaires arabes‎ (in French), volume 1, Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 567a
• Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎ (in German), volume 2, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, page 80
• Freytag, Georg (1833) “ريحان”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎ (in Latin), volume 2, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 207
• Jacob, Georg (1892) Studien in arabischen Geographen‎ (in German), volume 4, Berlin: Meyer & Müller, pages 163–164

From Arabic رَيْحَان (rayḥān).

• IPA^(key): /reː.ħaːn/, /riː.ħaːn/

ريحان • (rēḥān or rīḥān) m (plural رياحين (rayāḥīn))

1. basil

• حَبَق (ḥabag, “Ocimum (taxonomic plant genus)”)

From Arabic رَيْحَان (rayḥān).

• IPA^(key): /riː.ħaːn/

• Audio

  (file)

ريحان • (rīḥān) m

1. myrtle

From Arabic رَيْحَان (rayḥān).

• IPA^(key): /riː.ħaːn/, [riˈħæːn]

• Audio (al-Lidd)

  (file)

ريحان • (rīḥān) m

1. basil