Quranic root
جفن
j · f · n
A containing or enclosing surround: something that encircles another thing and holds it.
This orientation extends from the eyelid and sword sheath to food vessels and to the grapevine conceived as a holder or support for grapes. Related classical usages name associated plant parts and other receptacles.
- Maqāyīs · row 1186
- Mufradāt · row 255
- 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.
جَفْنَة
jafnah
- 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.
A large bowl or serving vessel used for food.
The Quranic form is the plural جِفَان, used for food vessels compared with large reservoirs or basins.
- Lane · entry 47024
- Mufradāt · row 255
Selected Quran examples
Quran 34:13word 8
“and bowls”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 34:13وَجِفَانٍۢand bowls
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 16 Classical meanings
جَفَنَ
To slaughter a she-camel and give her flesh as food to people in bowls.
A specialized Form I verbal usage describing slaughter together with feeding the people.
- Lane · entry 47019
جَفَّنَ
To make or prepare bowls of food.
The reported gloss is qualified as probably referring to preparing bowls of food.
- Lane · entry 47020
جَفَّنَ
Of a grapevine, to attain the state of having a stock or root.
A specialized botanical usage; the identification of the relevant أصل as a stock is reported tentatively.
- Lane · entry 47020
جَفْن
The eyelid, whether upper or lower.
The variant vocalization جِفْن is cross-referenced to this lexical item.
- Lane · entry 47022
جَفْن
The upper and lower surfaces of a bread-cake, taken together.
This meaning refers to the two surfaces collectively.
- Lane · entry 47022
جَفْن
The sheath or scabbard of a sword; reportedly also the larger case containing the sword and its fittings.
The scabbard meaning is the commonly known one; the broader case meaning is explicitly reported as disputed.
- Lane · entry 47022
جَفْن
A grapevine or its stock, climbing shoot or shoots, or leaves.
The source reports these as variant botanical applications rather than as a single fixed referent in every context.
- Lane · entry 47022
- Mufradāt · row 255
جَفْن
A kind of grape, or the skin of a grape containing its juice.
These fruit-related applications are reported as alternative classical identifications.
- Lane · entry 47022
مَاءُ الجَفْن
The juice of the grapevine, or wine.
A proposed explanation connects the expression with a progression through tears and rain before wine; that proposal is not treated as a separate ordinary meaning.
- Lane · entry 47022
جَفْنُ الْمَاءِ
Clouds.
This is a conventional expression rather than the ordinary concrete meaning of جَفْن.
- Lane · entry 47022
جَفْن
A kind of sweet-smelling tree.
A rare botanical meaning.
- Lane · entry 47022
جَفْن
A spreading plant whose dried form contracts and whose grains resemble fenugreek.
A specialized plant name.
- Lane · entry 47022
جَفْن
A place.
This lexical branch is listed without a more specific contextual description.
- Maqāyīs · row 1186
جَفْنَة
A small well.
A figurative or analogical extension from the food bowl.
- Lane · entry 47024
- Mufradāt · row 255
جَفْنَة غَرَّاء
A generous man who entertains and feeds many guests.
Used as an epithet for a renowned generous host, with the bowl serving as the basis of the metaphor.
- Lane · entry 47024
جَفْنَة
Wine, or a kind of wine.
A separate lexical use of the noun from its food-vessel meaning.
- Lane · entry 47024
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic occurrence is the plural جِفَان; the public headword is normalized to the supported singular جَفْنَة.
Several grape-related meanings are reported as alternative classical applications, and the broader sword-case sense is explicitly disputed; they are retained with those qualifications rather than treated as universally interchangeable.