conc▪ »The proper meaning of the word is ‘tremor, spasm, convulsion (as may occur in the behind of a camel when it wants to rise)’. It is not clear how this word became a technical term in prosody. The other etymological meaning of raǧaz ‘thunder, rumble, making a noise’, may perhaps be taken into consideration. In that case, there might be an allusion to the iambic, monotonous and pounding rhythm of these poems (cf. ka-mā samiʕta raǧaza ’l-ṣawāʕiq, ʔAbū Nuwās, ed. E. Wagner, ii: 299; for the etymology, see also T. Fahd, La divination arabe, Leiden 1966: 153-8)« – M. Ullmann / W. Heinrich, art. »Radjaz«, in EI².