Quranic root
صيف
ṣ · y · f
The root has two lexical orientations: the seasonal term صَيْف and a separate branch denoting turning aside or deviation.
The seasonal branch extends to summer rain, residence during summer, summer-related adjectives, and temporal arrangements. The second branch describes turning away from a target or intended action.
- Maqāyīs · row 2876
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 1
- Quran senses
- 1
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
صَيْفٌ
ṣayfun
- 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.
Summer; the season opposed to winter.
In the Quranic expression رحلة الشتاء والصيف, it denotes the summer season in contrast with the winter season. Classical descriptions differ over its exact calendrical boundaries.
- Mufradāt · row 864
- Lane · entry 27055
Selected Quran examples
Quran 106:2word 4
“and summer”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 106:2وَٱلصَّيْفِand summer
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 26 Classical meanings
صَافَ
To remain, dwell, or stay in a place during the summer.
Used of a person or group spending the summer in a particular place.
- Lane · entry 27048
صَافَ
Of land, to be rained upon by summer rain.
The passive expression صِيفَتِ الأَرْضُ describes land receiving rain of the summer season.
- Lane · entry 27048
صَافَ
To turn aside from a target or intended action; of a stallion-camel, to turn away from covering a female it had covered.
The specialized camel construction describes turning away from sexual covering.
- Lane · entry 27048
صَيَّفَنِي
To suffice someone for the summer.
The sufficing thing may be food, clothing, or another provision adequate for the summer period.
- Lane · entry 27049
مُصَايَفَةٌ
A contract, engagement, or hiring arrangement made for the summer period.
Used for work or comparable service contracted for the days or duration of summer.
- Lane · entry 27050
أَصَافَ
To enter the summer season.
It parallels expressions meaning to enter another season, such as winter.
- Lane · entry 27051
أَصَافَ
Of a she-camel, to give birth in the summer.
The verb may specify the season in which the birth occurred.
- Lane · entry 27051
أَصَافَ
Of a man, to have a child only when advanced in age, or to marry late after abstaining from women while young.
This is a figurative or extended use connected with having children in the later part of one's life.
- Lane · entry 27051
أَصَافَ
To turn away another person's evil or mischief from oneself.
Attested in the expression اصاف الله عني شر فلان, 'May God turn away such a person's evil from me.'
- Lane · entry 27051
صَيْفٌ
Rain that comes in the summer season, and the herbage produced by that rain.
This is a seasonal extension of the noun distinct from its primary meaning as the season itself.
- Lane · entry 27055
صَيْفٌ
The female of the owl.
A separate lexical use recorded for the noun.
- Lane · entry 27055
صَيْفِيٌّ
Belonging to or associated with the summer season.
Used adjectivally for things connected with summer.
- Lane · entry 27057
صَيْفِيٌّ
A young camel born in the summer.
The designation identifies the season of birth.
- Lane · entry 27057
صَيْفِيٌّ
A son born to a father when the father is old or advanced in age.
This is an extended use likening late offspring to something born in the summer of a person's life.
- Lane · entry 27057
صَيْفِيَّةٌ
Provision obtained for the summer, especially the provision of the first part of summer.
It may denote a people's summer supplies or the second of the named annual provisions.
- Lane · entry 27057
صَيْفِيَّةٌ
The latter or last season of the camels' birthing period.
A seasonal term in camel-breeding terminology.
- Lane · entry 27057
صَائِفٌ
Summer-like or hot; of a day or night, hot, and of rain, falling in summer.
The adjective occurs in expressions such as صَيْفٌ صَائِفٌ and يَوْمٌ صَائِفٌ; the rain use identifies its summer timing.
- Lane · entry 27059
صَائِفَةٌ
A summer military expedition or raid, especially one directed against the Greeks or Byzantines.
The term can refer to the expedition itself; the commander of such an expedition may also be described through this term.
- Lane · entry 27060
صَائِفَةٌ
The time or season of summer.
A substantivized seasonal use of the feminine form.
- Lane · entry 27060
مَصِيفٌ
A place or period of staying during summer; specifically, a place where dates are dried in summer.
The plural مَصَايِفُ is used for summer residences or places of this kind.
- Lane · entry 27063
مَصِيفٌ
Land rained upon by summer rain.
This is the participial use associated with the passive expression صِيفَتِ الأَرْضُ.
- Lane · entry 27063
مَصِيفٌ
Of a water channel, winding or tortuous.
A specialized descriptive use derived from the sense of turning aside.
- Lane · entry 27063
مُصِيفٌ
A she-camel that has given birth in summer or has her young with her.
The form is used of the camel in relation to summer birth or possession of a young one.
- Lane · entry 27064
مُصِيفٌ
A man who has a child born to him when he is old or advanced in age.
An extended human use corresponding to late parenthood.
- Lane · entry 27064
مِصْيَافٌ
Land abundant in summer rain, or consequently late in producing herbage.
The description concerns the land's relation to summer rainfall and the resulting vegetation.
- Lane · entry 27065
مِصْيَافٌ
A man who does not take a wife until his hair has begun to turn gray.
An extended description of delayed marriage.
- Lane · entry 27065
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
Classical descriptions differ over whether صَيْف denotes the quarter after spring, the hot season, or another seasonal division; the Quranic pairing with winter fixes the intended seasonal contrast.
The root also has a distinct deviation branch, represented by forms such as صَافَ meaning to turn aside; that branch is not the meaning of the Quranic noun صَيْف in 106:2.