Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

عَافَتِ الطَّيْرُ, (Sh, O, Ḳ,) aor. تَعُوفُ, inf. n. عَوْفٌ, (Sh, O,) The birds circled over a thing, (Sh, O, Ḳ,) or over the water, or over carcasses or corpses: or circled over a thing, going to and fro and not going away, desiring to alight: (Ḳ:) AA says that the medial radical is و; others say that it is ى, as will be shown in art. عيف. (TA.)

And عَافَ He (a man, TA) kept, or clave, to the trees, or plants, called عَوْف. (O, Ḳ,* TA.)

تعوّف He (a lion) sought, or sought for or after, the prey, by night. (TA.) [It is used as intrans. and as trans.:] see عَوْفٌ and عُوَافَةٌ.

عَافٌ i. q. سَهْلٌ [A soft tract, or a plain,, &c.]. (O, Ḳ.)

عَوْفٌ A state, condition, or case. (Ṣ, O, Ḳ.) So in the saying, نَعِمَ عَوْفُكَ [May thy state,, &c., be good, or pleasant]. (Ṣ, O.) One says also, أَصْبَحَ فُلَانٌ بِعَوْفِ سَوْءٍ, and بِعَوْفِ خَيْرٍ, meaning [Such a one entered upon the morning, or, simply, became,] in an evil state, and in a good state: or, accord. to some of the lexicologists, one should not say بِعَوْفِ خَيْرٍ, but only شَرٍّ [or سَوْءٍ]. (IDrd, O.)

Also Fortune; syn. جَدٌّ and حَظٌّ. (O, Ḳ.) And so, accord. to some, in the saying, نَعِمَ عَوْفُكَ [i. e. May thy fortune be good]. (O, TA.)

And i. q. طَائِرٌ [as meaning An omen]. (Ḳ, TA.) And thus it is said to signify in the form of prayer above mentioned: (TA:) [for,] as some say, the meaning is, نَعِمَ طَيْرُكَ [May thy omen be good]. (O, TA.)

And The ذَكَر. (O, Ḳ.) One says to a man on the morning after his first going in to his wife, نَعِمَ عَوْفُكَ, meaning thereby the ذَكَر [i. e. May thy ذكر be in a good state]. (O, TA.) AʼObeyd says, Some men used to explain (يَتَأَوَّلُ [for which يَتَنَاوَلُ is erroneously put in the O]) العَوْف as the فَرْج [meaning the ذَكَر], and I mentioned it to AA, and he disapproved it: (Ṣ, O, TA:) but a verse has been cited in which عَوْفِى [certainly] means ذَكَرِى. (TA.)

And A guest. (Lth, O, Ḳ.) And thus it has been expl. as used in the saying, نَعِمَ عَوْفُكَ. (O,* TA.)

And The cock. (O, Ḳ.)

And The lion: because he seeks his prey (يَتَعَوَّفُ↓) by night. (O, Ḳ.)

And The wolf. (O, Ḳ.)

And One who toils, or seeks the means of subsistence, for his household, or family. (IAạr, O, Ḳ.)

And A certain idol. (O, Ḳ.)

And A species of trees; (O;) or a species of plants, (AḤn, O, Ḳ,) of the plants of the desert, (AḤn, O,) of sweet odour. (AḤn, O, Ḳ.)

أُمُّ عَوْفٍ The جَرَادَة, (Ṣ, O,) [i. e.] the female of the جَرَاد [or locust]. (Ḳ.) And أَبُو عَوْفٍ The جَرَاد [meaning the male locust]. (Az, O, Ḳ.)

Also (i. e. عَوْفٌ) a good manner of tending or pasturing [cattle]: (O, Ḳ:) [or rather, simply,] the tending or pasturing [cattle]: so in the saying, إِنَّهُ لَحَسَنُ العَوْفِ فِى إِبِلِهِ [Verily he is one who has a good quality of tending, or pasturing, in respect of his camels]. (TA.)

أُمُّ عُوَيْفٍ A small creeping thing (دُوَيَّبَةٌ), other than the جَرَادَة [which is termed أُمُّ عَوْفٍ]. (TA.)

And, accord. to AḤát, أَبُو عَوْفٍ A species of the [beetles called] جِعْلَان [pl. of جُعَلٌ]: it is a small creeping thing (دُوَيْبَّة), dust-coloured, that excavates with its tail and with its two horns, and [then] never appears. (TA.)

عُوَافَةٌ (O, Ḳ) andعُوَافٌ↓ (Ḳ) The prey which the lion seeks (مَا يَتَعَوَّفُهُ↓ الأَسَدُ) by night, and which he devours. (O, Ḳ.)

And (both words, Ḳ) A thing that becomes, or has become, an acquisition of any one (O, Ḳ, TA) by night. (TA.)