Quranic root
عصف
ʿ · ṣ · f
A root orientation of lightness and speed, especially the forceful movement of wind and the light plant matter that wind can lift or scatter.
The semantic field extends from swift or violent motion to wind that carries things away, and to the husk, leaves, straw, or other light residue of grain and plants.
- Maqāyīs · row 3224
- 2
- Quran-attested forms
- 3
- Quran senses
- 7
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
عَاصِف
ʿāṣif
- Part of speech
- Adjective / Active participle
- Quran occurrences
- 4 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Violently blowing; stormy, especially of wind.
Used adjectivally of a violent wind, including in the construction “a day violent in wind.” The associated Quranic explanation also presents the force as capable of breaking things into chaff and of sweeping things away.
- Lane · entry 3487
- Mufradāt · row 983
Selected Quran examples
Quran 10:22word 20
“stormy”
Quran 14:18word 12
“stormy”
Quran 21:81word 3
“forcefully”
Quran 77:2word 1
“And the winds that blow”
عَصْف
ʿaṣf
- Part of speech
- Noun / Verbal noun
- Quran occurrences
- 3 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
The leafy, husk-like, or straw-like residue of grain or other vegetation; chaff.
In the Quran, the term is associated with plant material around or remaining after grain. In 55:12 it is explained variously as leaves or blades, stalk, or straw; in 105:5 it denotes the remaining straw or chaff after the grain has been eaten.
- Lane · entry 3480
- Mufradāt · row 983
Selected Quran examples
Quran 55:12word 3
“husk”
Quran 105:5word 2
“like straw”
Violent blowing; forceful action of wind.
A verbal noun used adverbially with winds, describing the manner of their violent blowing.
- Lane · entry 3475
Selected Quran examples
Quran 77:2word 2
“violently”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 10:22عَاصِفٌۭstormy
- 14:18عَاصِفٍۢ ۖstormy
- 21:81عَاصِفَةًۭforcefully
- 55:12ٱلْعَصْفِhusk
- 77:2فَٱلْعَـٰصِفَـٰتِAnd the winds that blow
Broader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 21 Classical meanings
عَصَفَ، عَصْفٌ
To move quickly or swiftly; quickness or swiftness.
A general use of the verb and its verbal noun, extended from the speed of wind.
- Lane · entry 3475
عَصَفَ بِالقَوْمِ
Of war: to carry off and destroy people.
Occurs with a people or group as the object of the destructive action.
- Lane · entry 3475
عَصَفَ
To incline or decline.
A general intransitive use describing deviation from an upright or direct course.
- Lane · entry 3475
عَصَفَ عِيَالَهُ
To earn or seek sustenance for one's household, using skill in managing affairs.
Used with a household or family as the beneficiary of the earning or provision.
- Lane · entry 3475
عَصَفَ الزَّرْعَ
To cut or clip a crop before full maturity, especially by removing its leaves or cutting it from the stalk.
A farming use involving the lightening or cutting of standing grain or similar produce.
- Lane · entry 3475
عَصْفٌ
The leaves, blades, ears, or green-cut foliage of grain and similar crops, including crop material used as fodder.
This is a broader agricultural use distinct from the dry husk or chaff specifically attested in the Quranic examples.
- Lane · entry 3480
أَعْصَفَ
To die or perish.
Used of a man or person.
- Lane · entry 3476
أَعْصَفَ
To deviate, decline, or wander from the road.
Used of a person's departure from the proper way or course.
- Lane · entry 3476
أَعْصَفَتِ الإِبِلُ
Of camels: to circle around a well eagerly for water, raising and spreading dust.
A conventional description of camels' movement around a watering place.
- Lane · entry 3476
أَعْصَفَ الزَّرْعُ
Of a crop: to put forth its leaves or stalk, become long, or reach the time for cutting.
A crop-development use, distinct from the transitive action of cutting the crop.
- Lane · entry 3476
اِسْتَعْصَفَ الزَّرْعُ
Of a crop: to produce its culm or jointed stalk.
A specialized agricultural use describing the development of the grain stalk.
- Lane · entry 3479
عُصُوفٌ
Straws, including handfuls of reaped grain.
A plural or collective agricultural term for harvested straw or reaped crop material.
- Lane · entry 3480
عُصُوفٌ
Wines.
A rare lexical use reported as a separate meaning of the headword.
- Lane · entry 3480
عَصْفَةٌ
A gust or strong puff of wind.
The noun denotes a single burst or gust of moving air.
- Lane · entry 3481
عَصْفَةٌ
The odor, fragrance, or exhaled aroma of wine.
A figurative extension comparing the wine's emanation to a gust of wind.
- Lane · entry 3481
عَصْفَانٌ
A seller of straw.
An occupational noun referring to one who sells straw or processed straw material.
- Lane · entry 3482
عَصُوفٌ
Swift or fast-moving.
Applied especially to a she-ostrich or she-camel that travels swiftly, including with a rider.
- Lane · entry 3483
عُصَافَةٌ
Material fallen from ears of corn, such as straw, or material carried away by the wind.
A noun for loose agricultural residue and, by extension, what wind removes or carries off.
- Lane · entry 3485
عَصِيفَةٌ
The combined leaves enclosing ears of corn, leaves opening around fruit, or the heads of wheat ears.
A specialized term for the leafy or enclosing parts of grain and fruiting plants.
- Lane · entry 3486
عَاصِفٌ
An arrow that turns aside or declines from the target; anything inclining or declining.
A figurative use describing deviation or inclination rather than violent wind.
- Lane · entry 3487
مُعْصِفٌ
A place abundant in grain or straw.
A place-description based on the abundance of crop material.
- Lane · entry 3488
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic noun عصف is presented under one normalized headword with separate plant-residue and verbal-noun wind senses because QAC supplies two grammatical groupings.
For عصف in 55:12, the lexical evidence preserves several traditional interpretations—leaves or blades, stalk, and straw—rather than forcing a single narrower botanical referent.