Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

حَرَفَ الشَّىْءَ عَنْ وَجْهِهِ, (AO, Ṣ, Mṣb, Ḳ,) aor. ـُ {يَحْرُفُ}, (Mṣb,) or ـِ, (Ḳ,) inf. n. حَرْفٌ, (Ṣ, Mṣb,) He turned the thing from its proper way, or manner: (Ḳ:) or altered it therefrom: (Mṣb:) andحرّفهُ↓, inf. n. تَحْرِيفٌ, has this latter meaning: (Ḳ,* TA:) or has an intensive signification of this kind. (Mṣb.) تَحْرِيفُ↓ الكَلِمِ عَنْ مَوَاضِعِهِ signifies The altering words from their proper meanings: (Ṣ,* TA:) and agreeably with this explanation, the verb is used in the Ḳur iv. 48, &c.: (TA:) or تحريف signifies the perverting of language: (Mṣb:) or the altering a word in form; as in writing بُرْدٌ for بَرْدٌ; or vice versâ: (KT:) [and the mistranscribing a word in any manner: commonly used in this sense in the lexicons, &c.: or the altering a word by substituting one letter, or more, for another, or others. See also صَحَّفَ.]

See also 7.

حَرَفَ لِعِيَالِهِ, (Mṣb, Ḳ,) aor. ـِ {يَحْرِفُ}, (Aṣ, Ṣ, Ḳ,) or ـُ, (Mṣb,) He earned or gained [subsistence], or laboured to do so, for his family, or household, (Aṣ, Ṣ, Mṣb, Ḳ,) from this and that quarter; (Aṣ, Ṣ;) as alsoاحترف↓: (Mgh,* Mṣb, TA:) andاحترف↓ بِيَدَيْهِ [he earned, or gained, with his hands]: andتحرّف↓ لِعِيَالِهِ he applied himself to earn or gain [subsistence] for his family, or household, by means of any, or every, art or craft: (TA:) andاحرف↓ he laboured, or sought gain or sustenance, for his household, or family; expl. by كَدَّ عَلَى عِيَالِهِ. (IAạr, Ḳ.)

حَرَفَ عَيْنُهُ, inf. n. حَرْفَةٌ, (Ḳ,) not an inf. n. of un., (TA,) He applied collyrium to his eye (Ḳ, TA) with the [style called] مِيل. (TA.)

حُرِفَ فِى مَالِهِ, inf. n. حَرْفَةٌ, He suffered the loss of somewhat of his property. (Lḥ, Ḳ.)

see 1, in two places.

[Hence,] طَاعُونٌ يُحَرِّفُ القُلُوبَ [A pestilence] causing the hearts [of those witnessing its effects] to turn away, and be aloof: (Ḳ:) occurring in a trad.: or, accord. to one relation, يُحَوِّفُ القلوب, (TA,) i. e., turning the hearts from confidence, and inclining them to removal and flight. (Ḳ and TA in art. حوف.)

تَحْرِيفُ القَلَمِ The nibbing the writing-reed obliquely; (Ṣ,* Ḳ,* TA;) making the right tooth of the nib higher [i. e. longer] than the left. (TA.) You say also, حَرَّفَ القَطَّةَ [He made the nibbing oblique]. (TA.) And حرّف السِّكِّينَ فِى حَالِ القَطِّ [He turned the knife obliquely in nibbing]. (TA.)

See also 7.

تَحْرِيفٌ also signifies The putting in motion, or into a state of commotion; syn. تَحْرِيكٌ. (TA.)

قَالَ بِيَدِهِ فَحَرَّفَهَا كَأَنَّهُ يُرِيدُ القَتْلَ, in a trad., means [He made a sign with his hand,] and imitated with it the cutting of a sword with its edge. (TA.)

حُورِفَ He was debarred from the means of subsistence; because he of whom this is said is aloof (بِحَرْفٍ) from the means of subsistence. (Mgh.) And حُورِفَ كَسْبُ فُلَانٍ Such a one was made to experience difficulty (Ṣ, TA) in his buying and selling, and was straitened (TA) in his means of subsistence; as though his means of subsistence were turned away from him: (Ṣ, TA:) or he had his gain, or earnings, turned away from him. (Mṣb.) It is said in a trad. of Ibn-Mesʼood, مَوْتُ المُؤْمِنِ عَرَقُ الجَبِينِ تَبْقَى عَلَيْهِ البَقِيَّةِمِنَ الذُّنُوبِ فَيُحَارِفُ بِهَا عِنْدَ المَوْتِ, i. e. [The death of the believer is accompanied with sweating of the side of the forehead: some sins remain chargeable against him, and] he is made to experience difficulty by them [in dying], in order that his sins may be diminished. (Ṣ.)

مُحَارَفَةٌ has also a meaning like مُفَاخَرَةٌ: Sá'ideh says,

* فَقَدْ عَلِمُوا فِى الغَزْوِ كَيْفَ نُحَارِفُ *

[And they certainly know, in warfare, how we vie for superiority in glory: or] accord. to Skr, it means how we deal with them; as when one says to a man, What is thy حِرْفَة (i. e. thine occupation) and thy lineage? (TA:) [or the meaning may be how we requite; for]

حارفهُ بِسُوْءٍ signifies He requited him for evil (Ḳ, TA) that he had done. (TA.) And it is said in a trad., إِنَّ العَبْدِ لَيُحَارَفُ عَنْ عَمَلِهِ الخَيْرَ أَوْ الشَّرَّ, i. e. [Verily the servant] shall be requited [for his deed; the good I mean, or the evil]. (IAạr, TA.) Andاحرف↓ also signifies He requited for good or evil. (IAạr, Ḳ.)

مُحَارَفَةٌ signifies also The measuring a wound with the مِحْرَاف, i. e. the probe. (Ḳ,* TA.)

احرف: see 1.

Also, (inf. n. إِحْرَافٌ, Mṣb,) His مال [or cattle] increased, and became in a good state or condition. (AZ, Ṣ, Mṣb, Ḳ.) One says, جَآءَ بِالحَقِ وَالإِحْرَافِ, meaning He came with, or brought, much cattle. (AZ, Ṣ. [See حِلْقٌ.])

He emaciated, or rendered lean, a she-camel: so says Aṣ: others say احرث. (Ṣ.) [See حَرْفٌ: and see حَرِيثَةٌ.]

See also 3, last sentence but one.

انحرف [It became turned, or altered, from its proper way, or manner; quasi-pass. of 1 in the first of the senses explained above: and] he turned aside; (Az, Ṣ, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ;) as alsoتحرّف↓; (Az, Ṣ, Mgh, Ḳ;) andاحرورف↓; (Az, Ṣ, Ḳ;) andحَرَفَ↓, inf. n. حَرْفٌ; (TA;) عَنْهُ from it. (Az, Ṣ, Mṣb, TA.) [Hence,] one says, انحرف مِزَاجَهُ [His temperament, or constitution, became disordered]; as alsoحَرَّفَ↓, [app. a mistranscription for حُرِّفَ,] inf. n. تَحْرِيفٌ. (TA.) [And انحرف عَلَيْهِ He turned against him, with enmity, or anger.] And انحرف إِلَيْهِ He turned to, or towards, him, or it. (TA.)

حَرْفٌ The extremity, verge, border, margin, brink, brow, side, or edge, (Ṣ, Mgh,* Ḳ, TA,) of anything; (Ṣ, Ḳ;) as, for instance, the side of a river or rivulet, and of a ship or boat, (TA,) and of the notch of an arrow; (Mṣb;) and the edge of a sword: (L, TA:) pl. [of mult. حُرُوفٌ, and of pauc.] أَحْرُفٌ. (TA.) Hence, (Ṣ,) [A point, a ridge, a brow, and a ledge, of a mountain:] the pointed, sharp, or edged, summit of a mountain: (Ṣ, Mṣb, Ḳ:) a projecting portion in the side of a mountain, in form like a small دُكَّان [i. e. bench] or the like: and a portion in the summit of a mountain, having a thin edge, or ridge, rising above the upper part of the back: (Sh, TA:) pl. (of the word thus used in relation to a mountain, TA) حِرَفٌ; (Fr, Ṣ, Mṣb, Ḳ;) accord. to Fr, (Mṣb,) the only instance of the kind except طِلَلٌ as pl. of طَلٌّ. (Mṣb, Ḳ.) [Hence, also,] A nib, of a writing-reed, obliquely cut: so in the phrase قَلَمٌ لَا حَرْفَ لَهُ, in the Ṣ and Ḳ in art. جزم, a writingreed not having a nib obliquely cut. (TA in that art. [See 2 in the present art.]) And حَرْفَا الرَّأْسِ The two lateral halves of the head. (TA.) [Hence, also, the phrase] فُلَانٌ عَلَى حَرْفٍ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ [and بِحَرْفٍ مِنْهُ (see 3, first sentence,)] Such a one is [standing] aloof with respect to his affair, (عَلَى نَاحِيَةٍ مِنْهُ, ISd, TA,) [in suspense,] waiting, and looking to the result, if he see, in regarding it from one side, what he likes; (TA;) turning from it if he see what does not please him. (ISd, TA.) The saying, in the Ḳur xxii. 11, وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَنْ يَعْبُدُ ٱللّٰهَ عَلَى حَرْفٍ means And of men is he who serves God standing aloof with respect to religion, in a fluctuating state, like him who is in the outskirts of the army, who, if sure of victory and spoil, stands firm, and otherwise flees: (Ksh, Bḍ:*) or the meaning is, who serves God in doubt, or suspense, (Zj, Ḳ, Jel,) being unsteady like him who alights and abides upon the حَرْف [i. e. point, or ridge, or brow,] of a mountain: (Jel:) or in a state of disquietude respecting his case; (Ibn-ʼArafeh, Ḳ;) i. e. not entering into the religion firmly, or steadily: (Ḳ:) or who serves God in one mode of circumstances; i. e. when in ample circumstances, and not when straitened in circumstances; (Az, Ṣ, Ḳ;) as though good fortune and plenty were one side, and an evil state were another side: (Az, TA:) [hence,] حَرْفٌ sometimes signifies a mode, or manner, and a way. (Mṣb.)

A letter of the alphabet: pl. حُرُوفٌ: (Ṣ, Mṣb, Ḳ:) the letters being thus called because they are the extremities of the word [and of the syllable]. (Kull.) The saying of the lawyers, تُبْطَلُ الصَّلَاةَ بِحَرْفٍ مُفْهِمٍ [Prayer is made null by a significant letter] means only by an imperative of a verb of which the first and last radical letters are infirm; such as فِ from وَفَى, and قِ from وَقَى, and the like. (Mṣb.)

As a grammatical term, † [A particle; i. e.] what is used to express a meaning, and is not a noun nor a verb: every other definition of it is bad: (Ḳ:) pl. حُرُوفٌ. (Mṣb, &c.)

And ‡ A word [absolutely: often used in this sense in lexicons, &c.]. (Kull.)

A dialect, an idiom, or a mode of expression, peculiar to certain of the Arabs:pl. [of pauc.] أَحْرُفٌ: so in the saying (of Moḥammad, TA) نَزَلَ القُرْآنُ عَلَى سَبْعَةِ أَحْرُفٍ The Ḳur-án has been revealed according to seven dialects, of the dialects of the Arabs: (AʼObeyd, Az, IAth, Ḳ:) or this means, according to seven modes, or manners, (Mgh, Mṣb,) of reading: whence فُلَانٌ يَقْرَأُ بِحَرْفِ ٱبْنِ مَسْعُودٍ Such a one reads in the manner of reading of Ibn-Mesʼood. (Mgh.)

Applied to a she-camel, † Lean, or light of flesh; or lean, and lank in the belly; (Ṣ, Ḳ;) and firm, strong, or hardy; likened to the حَرْف of a mountain; (Ṣ;) or to the حرف of a sword, (Z, O, TA,) in respect of her leanness, or thinness, and her sharpness and effectiveness in pace; (Z, TA;) or to a letter of the alphabet, meaning the letter ا, in respect of her leanness: (TA:) or excellent, or high-bred, or strong and light and swift, sharp and effective in pace, rendered lean by journeyings; likened to the حرف of a sword: (L:) or emaciated: (Ṣ, Ḳ:) so Aṣ used to say: (Ṣ:) but this is inconsistent with Dhu-r-Rummeh's description of a she-camel by the epithets جُمَالِيَّةٌ حَرْفٌ سِنَادٌ: (TA:) [see حَرِيثَةٌ:] or [in the CK “and”] great; big; of great size; (Ḳ, TA;) likened to the حرف of a mountain: (TA:) it is applied only to a she-camel: one may not say جَمَلٌ حَرْفٌ. (IAạr, TA.)

حُرْفٌ andحِرْفَةٌ↓ (Ṣ, Ḳ) andحُرْفَةٌ↓ (Mgh, Ḳ) andحِرَافٌ↓ (TA) Ill-fatedness; privation of prosperity; or the being denied prosperity; syn. حِرْمَانٌ [as inf. n. of حُرِمَ]: (Ḳ, TA:) lack of good fortune, so that one has no increase of his cattle or other property: (Ṣ:) debarment from the means of subsistence. (Mgh.) Hence the saying of ʼOmar,لِحِرْفَةُ↓ أَحَدِهِمْ أَشَدُّ عَلَىَّ مِنْ عَيْلَتِهِ, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) or, accord. to one reading,لَحُرْفَةُ↓, (TA,) [Verily the ill-fatedness of any one of them is more distressing to me than his poverty:] i. e., the supplying the wants of the poor man is easier to me than the making the bad to thrive: or the meaning is, the want of the means of gaining subsistence by any one of them, and grief on that account, is more distressing to me than his poverty: so in the Nh. (TA.)

الحُرْفُ A certain grain, resembling الخَرْدَل [or mustard]; (Az, Mṣb, TA;) called by the vulgar, (AḤn, TA,) or in the dial. of El-'Irák, (TA in art. رشد,) حَبُّ الرَّشَادِ, (AḤn, Ṣ, Ḳ,) or الرَّشَادُ: (Mṣb:) n. un. with ة {حُرْفَةٌ}, (TA,) applied to a single grain thereof. (Mṣb.) [See art. رشد.] Hence حِرِّيفٌ [q. v.]. (Ṣ, Mṣb.)

حِرْفَةٌ A craft, or handicraft, (Ṣ, Ḳ, TA,) by which one gains his subsistence; a mode, or manner, of gain; any habitual work or occupation of a man; because he turns (يَنْحَرِفُ, Ḳ, i. e. يَمِيلُ, TA) to it; (Ḳ, TA;) a subst. from اِحْتَرَفَ: (Mgh, Mṣb:) pl. حِرَفٌ. (TA.)

See also حُرْفٌ, in two places.

حُرْفِىٌّ A seller of الحُرْف, i. e. حَبّ الرَّشَاد. (Ḳ.)

حَرِيفٌ A fellow-worker, syn. مُعَامِلٌ, (Ṣ, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ,) in one's craft or ordinary occupation: (Ḳ:) and an associate: (KL:) pl. حُرَفَآءُ. (Mṣb.)

It is mostly used by foreigners as meaning A companion in drinking: and by most of the Turks, as implying vituperation; [like our term “fel-low;”] so that when any one of them addresses another by this epithet, he is angry. (TA.)

حَرَافَةٌ The quality, or property, of burning, or biting, the tongue; acritude. (Ṣ, Mṣb, TA.)

حِرِّيفٌ, from الحُرْفُ, Burning, or biting, to the tongue: (Ṣ, Mṣb, TA:) it is applied in this sense to an onion, and to other things: one should not say حَرِّيفٌ. (Ṣ, TA.)

مَحْرِفٌ A place to which to turn away, or back, from a thing. (AO, Ṣ, Ḳ.) So in the saying, مَالِى عَنْ هٰذَا الأَمْرِ مَحْرِفٌ [I have no place to which to turn away, or back, from this thing]. (AO, Ṣ, Ḳ.*)

Also, andمُحْتَرَفٌ↓, A place in which a man earns or gains [subsistence], or labours to do so, and employs himself as he pleases, or follows his various pursuits. (Ḳ.)

مُحْرِفٌ A man whose property increases, and becomes in a good state or condition; or whose cattle increase, &c. (Ṣ, Mṣb.)

مُحَرَّفٌ [pass. part. n. of 2, q. v.]

One whose property has gone. (TA.)

A writing-reed nibbed obliquely; having the right tooth of the nib higher [i. e. longer] than the left. (TA.)

مُحَرِّفُ القُلُوبِ, applied to God, The Turner, or Incliner, of hearts: or the Mover of hearts: (TA:) or the Remover of hearts. (Fr, TA voce مُحَرِّك, q. v.)

مِحْرَافٌ (Ṣ, L, Ḳ) andمِحْرَفٌ↓, (L, TA,) orمِحْرَفَةٌ↓, (Akh, TA,) A probe with which the depth of a wound is measured: (Ṣ, L, Ḳ:) pl. of the first مَحَارِيفُ; and [of the second, or,] accord. to Akh, of the last, مَحَارِفُ. (TA.)

مُحَارَفٌ Prevented, or withheld, from obtaining good; withheld from good fortune, or from sustenance; denied, or refused, good, or prosperity; lacking good fortune; having no increase of his cattle or other property; (Ṣ, Mgh,* Ḳ;*) contr. of مُبَارَكٌ: (Ṣ:) or having his gain, or earnings, turned away from him: (Mṣb:) or who obtains not good from a quarter to which he betakes himself: or scanted in his means of subsistence: or who works not, or labours not, to earn, or gain: or who earns, or gains, with his hands, but not enough for the support of himself and his household or family: (TA:) مُخَارَفٌ and مُجَارَفٌ are dial. vars. thereof. (TA in art. خرف.)

مُحْتَرِفٌ A handicraftsman; a worker with his hands. (Ṣ, TA.)

مُتَحَرِّفًا لِقِتَالٍ, in the Ḳur [viii. 16], means Turning away for the purpose of returning to fight: the doing which is one of the stratagems of war. (Mgh, Mṣb.*)