Quranic root
نفش
n · f · sh
A semantic orientation of spreading apart, separation, and loosening.
The root develops from loosening wool or other compact material until it is spread out, and extends to ruffled feathers and animals dispersing to graze at night.
- Maqāyīs · row 4710
- Lane · entry 44228
- 2
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 2
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
نَفَشَ
nafasha
- 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.
Of flock animals: to disperse and pasture by night without a shepherd.
A nocturnal grazing and dispersal construction; the Quranic occurrence describes the people's sheep, which had wandered into cultivated growth.
- Lane · entry 44228
- Mufradāt · row 1470
Selected Quran examples
Quran 21:78word 8
“pastured”
مَنْفُوشٌ
manfūshun
- Part of speech
- Passive 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.
Of wool or similar fibrous material: loosened and fluffed so that its fibers are spread apart.
In the Quranic simile, wool is described in this loosened, separated, and expanded state.
- Lane · entry 44236
- Mufradāt · row 1470
Selected Quran examples
Quran 101:5word 4
“fluffed up”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 2 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 15 Classical meanings
نَفَشَ
To separate, pluck apart, or loosen a compact thing so that it becomes spread, sparse, or dispersed; also, intransitively, to become so loosened and spread.
Used especially of cotton, wool, and other material separated with the fingers; the intransitive use describes the resulting state.
- Lane · entry 44228
نَفَشَ
To ruffle or spread the feathers around the neck.
Used of a cock or houbara when preparing to fight.
- Lane · entry 44228
اِنْتَفَشَ
To become separated, loosened, spread, sparse, or dispersed, especially of cotton, wool, or similar material.
An intransitive, quasi-passive counterpart to the transitive loosening expressed by نَفَشَ.
- Lane · entry 44232
أَنْفَشَ
To let sheep, goats, or camels pasture by night without a shepherd, or to neglect them so that they disperse.
A Form IV causative construction involving the release or neglect of grazing animals at night.
- Lane · entry 44230
تَنَفَّشَ
To bristle up the hair, or to ruffle or shake the feathers.
Used of animals such as cats, hyenas, cocks, or birds, especially in fear, threat, or agitation.
- Lane · entry 44231
نَفَشٌ
Wool.
A nominal use independent of the verbal action of loosening or spreading.
- Lane · entry 44233
نَفَشٌ
A show of action where there is no actual action.
A figurative interpretation occurring in the cited proverb contrasting substance with appearance.
- Lane · entry 44233
نَفَشٌ
A little milk.
An alternative interpretation of the cited proverb.
- Lane · entry 44233
نَفَشٌ
Abundance of speech, talk, or pretensions.
A figurative usage, including the sense of extravagant claims or verbal display.
- Lane · entry 44233
نَفَّاشٌ
A proud or boastful person, especially one who praises himself for qualities he lacks or claims to have done what he has not done.
A figurative personal description.
- Lane · entry 44234
نَفَّاشٌ
A large variety of citron or lemon.
A botanical noun for the specified fruit.
- Lane · entry 44234
نَافِشٌ
An animal that pastures by night without a shepherd, especially a camel or sheep or goat.
The active participle is also used in feminine and plural forms for such animals; the term distinguishes nocturnal unattended grazing from more general wandering.
- Lane · entry 44235
مُنْتَفِشٌ
Having shaggy or dishevelled hair.
Applied to a person characterized by untidy, bristling hair.
- Lane · entry 44237
مُنْتَفِشٌ
Swollen or humid, and loose, flaccid, or soft within.
Applied to anything having this swollen and internally soft or loose condition.
- Lane · entry 44237
مُنْتَفِشٌ
Of a nose: short in its soft front part and spreading over the face; of the nostrils, wide.
An anatomical description of a broad, spreading nose or wide nostrils.
- Lane · entry 44237
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic Form I occurrence is the feminine singular perfect نَفَشَتْ, represented under the normalized citation form نَفَشَ.
The Quranic passive participle occurs in an inflected form, مَنْفُوشِ, represented under the citation form مَنْفُوشٌ.
The several interpretations of نَفَشٌ in the cited proverb are context-bound and should not be conflated with the ordinary noun wool.