Quranic root
لفت
l · f · t
The root centers on twisting or turning something away from its straight direction.
From physical twisting and turning, the root develops usages for diverting someone from a matter, turning the face or regard aside, removing a covering, and related derived descriptions.
- Maqāyīs · row 4193
- 2
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 3
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
لَفَتَ
lafata
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- 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.
To turn or divert someone from a direction, matter, or course; to turn someone away from something.
In the Quranic construction with عَنْ, the object is caused to turn away from a matter or course.
- Lane · entry 9724
- Mufradāt · row 1310
Selected Quran examples
Quran 10:78word 3
“to turn us away”
اِلْتَفَتَ
āiltafata
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VIII
- Form
- VIII
- Quran occurrences
- 2 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 one's face or regard aside; to look back or turn to another direction.
In the supplied Quranic occurrences, the form appears in a prohibitive construction meaning not to look back.
- Lane · entry 9726
- Mufradāt · row 1310
Selected Quran examples
Quran 11:81word 15
“look back”
Quran 15:65word 9
“let look back”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 3 occurrencesBroader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 28 Classical meanings
لَفَتَ
To twist, wring, or turn a person or thing away from its proper direction.
Includes twisting or wringing the neck and turning something about, such as a cow turning fresh herb with its tongue.
- Lane · entry 9724
لَفَتَهُ
To take someone away suddenly, especially by death.
- Lane · entry 9724
لَفَتَهُ
To turn someone from his opinion.
A figurative or extended usage concerning a person's view or judgment.
- Lane · entry 9724
لَفَتَ
To beat camels, sheep, or goats indiscriminately, without caring which animal is struck.
- Lane · entry 9724
لَفَتَ
To utter or send forth words without caring what they mean.
A figurative usage concerning careless or unintelligible speech.
- Lane · entry 9724
لَفَتَ
To stir a thing about and over, as flour is stirred with clarified butter.
- Lane · entry 9724
لَفَتَ
To remove or pull off the peel or rind from a tree, twig, or branch.
- Lane · entry 9724
لَفَتَ
To put feathers on an arrow in an uneven or mismatched arrangement.
The feathers are attached without making them equal, uniform, or well-composed.
- Lane · entry 9724
اِلْتَفَتَ
To pay no regard or attention to someone or something.
Expressed in the conventional negative construction ما التفت إليه.
- Lane · entry 9726
لِفْتٌ
Half of a thing; its side or flank.
The sense is also reflected in a phrase meaning not to look toward someone's side.
- Lane · entry 9727
لِفْتٌ
A cow or bull.
- Lane · entry 9727
لِفْتٌ
A woman who is stupid, foolish, or of little sense.
The feminine referent is part of the lexical definition in this entry.
- Lane · entry 9727
لِفْتٌ
The vulva of a lioness.
An anatomical usage.
- Lane · entry 9727
لِفْتٌ
In Egyptian usage, the rape plant, Brassica napus.
The entry reports uncertainty about whether this word is Arabic and records an assertion that it is Nabataean.
- Lane · entry 9727
لَفَتٌ
A condition in which one horn of a he-goat is twisted over the other.
- Lane · entry 9728
لُفَتَةٌ
A man who repeatedly beats his camels, sheep, or goats without caring which animal he strikes.
- Lane · entry 9729
لَفُوتٌ
A woman who looks aside frequently or whose regard is readily diverted.
The descriptions include looking toward a speaking man, not keeping the eyes fixed on one place, and using glances or signs. The term is also applied to a woman distracted by a child from a previous husband while married to another man.
- Lane · entry 9731
لَفُوتٌ
A she-camel that is restless during milking, looks aside at the milker, and bites him.
The description includes her yielding milk after being struck; the epithet is proverbially extended to a disobedient person.
- Lane · entry 9731
لَفُوتٌ
Difficult or stubborn in disposition.
This meaning is reported alongside contrary lexical testimony in the same discussion.
- Lane · entry 9731
لَفُوتٌ
A woman marked by crookedness and constriction.
A reported interpretation explains the description as involving التواء وانقباض.
- Lane · entry 9731
لَفُوتٌ
A woman who goes to calumniate or slander.
A rare and obscure transmitted gloss.
- Lane · entry 9731
لَفِيتَةٌ
A thick gruel or stew made by cooking and thickening a prepared liquid with flour.
The name is connected with stirring or turning the mixture; the preparation is also described as a thick عصيدة or a broth resembling حَيْس.
- Lane · entry 9732
أَلْفَتُ
Strong-handed, able to hoist or wring someone who grapples with him.
- Lane · entry 9733
أَلْفَتُ
A he-goat having crooked or twisted horns.
The corresponding feminine form لَفْتَاءُ is used for a she-goat with crooked horns.
- Lane · entry 9733
أَلْفَتُ
Having distorted or cross-directed eyes.
The feminine form لَفْتَاءُ is used for a woman with this feature.
- Lane · entry 9733
أَلْفَتُ
Stupid, foolish, or of little sense; in some reports, also difficult or stubborn in disposition.
The entry records variation in the transmitted wording and related interpretation.
- Lane · entry 9733
أَلْفَتُ
Left-handed; working with the left hand.
Reported as a dialectal usage of Temeem.
- Lane · entry 9733
المُتَلَفِّتَةُ
The highest bone at the place where the head joins the neck.
An anatomical noun.
- Lane · entry 9734
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Mufradat entry reports the expression لِتَلْفِتَنا with the citation Yūnus 87, while the supplied QAC occurrence is securely located at 10:78:3; the artifact uses the QAC location and does not normalize the conflicting citation.
The plant sense under لِفْتٌ is reported with uncertainty about its Arabic status and with a claim of Nabataean origin.
The meanings of لَفُوتٌ and أَلْفَتُ include transmitted lexical disagreement or obscure reports, which are retained as such.