Horse words from a XIVth century animal dictionary

[Updated on September 12, 2019]

I just happened upon an online copy of an animal dictionary from the XIVth century, “Hayat al-Haywan al-Kubra” (“The Great Life of Animals”). It is by a Cairene author, Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Musa ibn ‘Ali al-Dumayri (1341-1405). It defines several horse-related terms like hisan, khayl, and faras.

I realized that the Arabic word khayl does not seem to have a direct equivalent in English. It does mean a “group of horses” considered collectively, just like the English word “people” means a group of human beings, considered collectively. Compare “a horse” with “a human being”, the plural “horses” with “human beings”, and you will realize that there is no single horse term that is the equivalent of “people”. Khayl is such a term in Arabic. So here is my translation of excerpts from the work of al-Dumayri:

al-hisan: the male one of the khayl (al-dhakar min al-khayl)

al-khayl: a group of horses (jamaa’at afraass), it has no singular, like “people” (al-qawm). It is in the feminine; the plural [of the plural] is khuyul.

al-faras: a single one of the khayl (waahid al-khayl); the plural is afraass. Faras is equally used for the male and the female; it’s origin (asl!) is in the feminine. The female is not farasah. The diminutive is furays (masculine and feminine) and its feminine furaysah is possible.

In an update, I found similar entries for khayl and faras in the book Fawaa’id al-Nayl bi-Fadaa’il al-Khayl, by al-Husayni al-Tabari al-Makki (died 1659 CE). Interestingly, I also found this, right after the entry on faras:

And they are named ‘Iraab [Arabs], because after Adam, they were brought to Ishmael , in reward for raising the foundations of the House. And Ishmael is ‘Arabi [Arab]. And they are named ‘Atiq, because they are free of foreign influence [Hijaanah].