קָלַל (b. h.) [to swing] to be light, slender, unimportant.—Part. קַל. Snh. VI, 5 (ref. to קללת, Deut. XXI, 23) בזמן … קַלַּנִי מראשי וכ׳ when man suffers punishment, what does the Shekhinah say? ‘I am lighter than my head, than my arm’ (euphem. for, I feel my head heavy &c.); Y. ib. 23ᵈ bot. אנן תנינן קַלֵּינִי (= קל איני) we read ḳalleni, I am not lighter; אית תניי תני קל אני some Tannai reads ḳal ăni; מאן דאמר קליני לית הוא אלא קליל according to him that reads ḳalleni, it is a euphemistic expression for ‘light’ (i.e. my head is light, I feel giddy; my arm is light, I feel weak); מאן דאמר קלני … נטיל according to the version ḳallani, it is a euphemistic expression for ‘heavy’ (i.e. my head, my arm is heavy); Bab. ib. 46ᵇ Abbayi says כמאן דאמר קל לית (read ḳalleni) as one says, ‘light (I am) not’ (i.e. I feel heavy, without euphemism)—(which is refuted by Raba, who explains the word in question) קליל לי עלמא, v. קַלִּיל II.
Hif. - הֵיקַל, הֵקַל, , הֵקיל I) to lighten. M. Kat. 17ᵇ הכביד … מֵיקַל וכ׳ if the mourner’s hair is too heavy, he may make it lighter with a razor; Y. ib. III, 82ᵃ top. Erub. IV, 9 להָקֵל על העשיר to make it easy for the rich man; a. fr.—Trnsf. ה׳ ראשו to be irreverent, talk frivolously (v. קַלּוּת). Ber. IX, 5 לא יָקֵל אדם את ראשו כנגד וכ׳ man (a pilgrim coming to Jerusalem) must not behave irreverently in sight of the eastern gate &c. Yalk. Gen. 24 מֵיקֶלֶת ראשה she is frivolous (light-minded); Yalk. Is. 265 מֵקֶילֶת ראש; (Gen. R. s. 18 מיקרת, v. יָקַר).—2) to be lenient; to incline towards the less restrictive practice, opp. החמיר, v. חָמַר I. Y. M. Kat. l. c. הלכה כדברי מי שהוא מיקל the adopted practice follows the opinion of him who is more lenient; Erub. 46ᵃ, a. fr. כדברי המיקל וכ׳. Yeb. 88ᵃ הֵיקַלְתָּ עליה, v. חָמַר I. Pes. 52ᵇ, v. מַגִּיד. Erub. l. c. wherever you find יחיד מיקל ורבים וכ׳ an individual scholar favoring the more lenient practice against several in favor of restriction. Sabb. 129ᵃ, a. fr. ספק נפשות להָקל where there is a doubt involving the endangering of human life, the more lenient rule is applied; a. fr.—3) to be sparing, beggarly. Ib. כל המיקל … מְקִילִין לו מזוניתיו וכ׳ he that stints himself at the meal taken after blood-letting, to him they in heaven will give his sustenance stintingly; a. e.