Quranic root
حرف
ḥ · r · f
The root centers on the idea of an edge, boundary, or defined side, with related branches of turning aside and measuring or delimiting.
From the notion of an edge or side, the sources develop senses of adopting one mode or position, turning something away from its proper direction, altering speech, and measuring a wound. Livelihood and deprivation usages are recorded as separate lexical branches.
- Maqāyīs · row 1339
- 3
- Quran-attested forms
- 4
- Quran senses
- 6
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
حَرَّفَ
ḥarrafa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form II
- Form
- II
- 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.
To turn words or speech away from their proper meanings or places; to distort or alter their wording.
In the Quranic usage, the object is words or speech. The alteration may involve changing wording or presenting it in a form that permits divergent interpretations.
- Lane · entry 14136
- Mufradāt · row 313
Selected Quran examples
حَرْفٌ
ḥarfun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
An edge, side, or extremity.
In the Quranic expression عَلَى حَرْفٍ, the noun retains the image of standing at an edge or outer side.
- Lane · entry 14144
- Mufradāt · row 313
Selected Quran examples
Quran 22:11word 7
“an edge”
A single side, mode, or condition on which one proceeds.
In عَلَى حَرْفٍ, the expression describes conditional, unstable adherence: remaining committed in favorable circumstances but turning away when tested or distressed.
- Lane · entry 14144
- Mufradāt · row 313
Selected Quran examples
Quran 22:11word 7
“an edge”
مُتَحَرِّفٌ
mutaḥarrifun
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Turning aside in battle in order to return and fight; using a tactical maneuver rather than fleeing.
Used with لِقِتَالٍ for a combatant who withdraws or shifts position as a stratagem of warfare.
- Lane · entry 14163
Selected Quran examples
Quran 8:16word 6
“(as) a strategy”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:75يُحَرِّفُونَهُۥthey distort it
- 4:46يُحَرِّفُونَthey distort
- 5:13يُحَرِّفُونَThey distort
- 5:41يُحَرِّفُونَThey distort
- 8:16مُتَحَرِّفًۭا(as) a strategy
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 38 Classical meanings
حَرَفَ
To turn a thing away from its proper way or manner; to alter it.
- Lane · entry 14136
حَرَفَ
To earn or seek subsistence for one's household, including by applying oneself to a craft.
The construction may specify earning for one's family or earning with one's hands.
- Lane · entry 14136
حَرَفَ
To apply collyrium to the eye with a ميل.
- Lane · entry 14136
حُرِفَ
To suffer the loss of some property.
- Lane · entry 14136
حَرَّفَ
To turn hearts away, make them aloof, or remove their confidence.
Recorded in the expression يُحَرِّفُ القُلُوبَ and in a reported phrase concerning a pestilence.
- Lane · entry 14137
حَرَّفَ
To cut the nib of a writing reed obliquely.
The result is a nib whose two teeth are unequal in height.
- Lane · entry 14137
تَحْرِيفٌ
Putting something into motion or a state of commotion; in a specific gesture, moving the hand as if cutting with the edge of a sword.
The hand-motion sense belongs to a reported expression and is not a general restriction on the verb.
- Lane · entry 14137
حُورِفَ
To be debarred from the means of subsistence, or to have one's earnings turned away and one's livelihood made difficult.
- Lane · entry 14138
مُحَارَفَةٌ
Vying with another for superiority in glory, or dealing with another in contest or interaction.
The expression may be understood in relation to warfare, occupation, lineage, or requital according to its context.
- Lane · entry 14138
مُحَارَفَةٌ
To requite someone for good or evil, or to recompense someone for an act.
- Lane · entry 14138
مُحَارَفَةٌ
Measuring a wound with a probe.
- Lane · entry 14138
أَحْرَفَ
To have one's property or cattle increase and become prosperous or sound in condition.
The subject is a person's property or livestock.
- Lane · entry 14139
أَحْرَفَ
To emaciate or render a she-camel lean.
This usage is attributed to one authority, while another reading is reported as حَرَثَ.
- Lane · entry 14139
اِنْحَرَفَ
To turn aside, away, toward, or against; to become altered from one's proper course.
It can also describe a temperament becoming disordered; direction and attitude are determined by the accompanying preposition or context.
- Lane · entry 14141
حَرْفٌ
A sharp summit, ridge, brow, ledge, or projecting portion of a mountain.
- Lane · entry 14144
حَرْفٌ
The obliquely cut nib of a writing reed.
- Lane · entry 14144
حَرْفٌ
Either of the two lateral halves of the head.
Used in the plural expression حَرْفَا الرَّأْسِ.
- Lane · entry 14144
حَرْفٌ
A letter of the alphabet.
The plural is حُرُوفٌ or أَحْرُفٌ.
- Lane · entry 14144
حَرْفٌ
A grammatical particle that expresses a meaning without being a noun or a verb.
This is the technical grammatical use.
- Lane · entry 14144
حَرْفٌ
A word.
This broader usage is recorded as a lexical extension of the term.
- Lane · entry 14144
حَرْفٌ
A dialect, idiom, or mode of expression associated with a group of Arabs; a particular manner of reading or expression.
The expression نَزَلَ القُرْآنُ عَلَى سَبْعَةِ أَحْرُفٍ is explained in terms of dialects or modes of reading.
- Lane · entry 14144
حَرْفٌ
A she-camel described as lean, light, strong, swift, or effective in pace; it may also be described as large or high-bred.
The word is explicitly applied to a she-camel, not to a male camel. The sources preserve differing comparisons with the edge of a mountain, a sword, or an alphabetic letter.
- Lane · entry 14144
حُرْفٌ
Ill-fatedness, deprivation of prosperity, or being denied the means of subsistence.
It may describe lack of increase in property or cattle and the distress associated with lacking a means of livelihood.
- Lane · entry 14145
حُرْفٌ
A pungent grain resembling mustard, commonly identified with garden cress or a similar seed.
The singular grain is treated as a noun of unity with ـة.
- Lane · entry 14145
حِرْفَةٌ
A craft, handicraft, occupation, or habitual work by which a person earns a livelihood.
- Lane · entry 14147
حُرْفِيٌّ
A seller of الحُرْف, the pungent grain identified with حَبُّ الرَّشَادِ.
- Lane · entry 14148
حَرِيفٌ
A fellow-worker in one's craft or ordinary occupation; an associate.
In later foreign usage it can mean a drinking companion or serve as an angry or vituperative form of address.
- Lane · entry 14150
حَرَافَةٌ
The quality of burning or biting the tongue; acridity or pungency.
- Lane · entry 14151
حِرِّيفٌ
Something burning or biting to the tongue, such as an onion or another pungent food.
The cited form is حِرِّيفٌ, not حَرِّيفٌ.
- Lane · entry 14152
مَحْرِفٌ
A place to which one can turn away or back from a matter.
- Lane · entry 14153
مَحْرِفٌ
A place where a person earns or seeks subsistence and pursues an occupation.
- Lane · entry 14153
مُحْرِفٌ
A person whose property or cattle increases and becomes prosperous or sound in condition.
- Lane · entry 14154
مُحَرَّفٌ
One whose property has gone or been lost.
- Lane · entry 14157
مُحَرَّفٌ
A writing reed whose nib has been cut obliquely, with one tooth higher than the other.
- Lane · entry 14157
مُحَرِّفُ القُلُوبِ
One who turns, inclines, moves, or removes hearts; an epithet applied to God.
The alternatives reflect closely related descriptions of directing or changing the state of hearts.
- Lane · entry 14158
مِحْرَافٌ
A probe used to measure the depth of a wound.
The plural forms include مَحَارِيفُ and مَحَارِفُ according to the cited analyses.
- Lane · entry 14159
مُحَارَفٌ
A person deprived of good fortune or prosperity, whose earnings are insufficient or whose livelihood is withheld.
The term can include one who earns with his hands but not enough to support himself or his household.
- Lane · entry 14160
مُحْتَرِفٌ
A handicraftsman or worker with his hands.
- Lane · entry 14162
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic noun حَرْفٌ in 22:11 occurs in the idiom عَلَى حَرْفٍ; its literal edge image and its conditional or unstable stance are therefore presented as related but distinct senses.