Quranic root
سفن
s · f · n
The root centers on removing, shaving, or abrading something from the surface of another thing.
This orientation extends to paring and smoothing by people or wind, to abrasive tools and materials, and in the traditional explanation of سَفِينَةٌ to a craft that skims or pares the surface of water.
- Maqāyīs · row 2445
- Mufradāt · row 700
- Lane · entry 41412
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 1
- Quran senses
- 4
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
سَفِينَة
safīnah
- Part of speech
- Noun
- 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.
A ship or boat.
In the supplied Quranic occurrences, the noun denotes a watercraft.
- Lane · entry 41412
- Mufradāt · row 700
Selected Quran examples
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 4 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 14 Classical meanings
سَفَنَ
To pare, strip, scrape, abrade, or smooth away a superficial covering.
Also used of wind removing or pulverizing dust from the earth’s surface; the usage may be intensive or involve several objects.
- Lane · entry 41406
السَّفْنُ
The paring, scraping, or shaving of a thing’s exterior.
A nominal expression for removing or cutting away a surface.
- Lane · entry 41406
- Mufradāt · row 700
سَفِنَ
To stick or run aground.
Used in the construction describing a ship or boat that catches on the ground.
- Lane · entry 41406
سَفَنٌ
An adz, axe, or other implement used to hew, pare, shape, or smooth a thing.
The implement may be a carpenter’s adz, a tool for paring palm trunks, or a stone or iron instrument used for shaping and smoothing.
- Lane · entry 41408
سَفَنٌ
A rough skin used as an abrasive or smoothing material.
It is described especially as being used on sword hilts or to smooth arrows; the reported material includes rough animal or fish skin.
- Lane · entry 41408
- Mufradāt · row 700
سَفُونٌ
A wind that blows over the surface of the earth, wiping or paring away dust.
Some usage applies the word to a constantly blowing wind, while another allows it to mean simply a wind.
- Lane · entry 41409
سِفَانَةٌ
The craft or occupation of building and navigating ships or boats.
The term covers both ship construction and ship navigation.
- Lane · entry 41411
سَفِينَةٌ
The constellation Argo, one of the southern constellations.
A technical astronomical usage distinct from the ordinary meaning “ship.”
- Lane · entry 41412
سَفِينَةٌ
An oblong book or commonplace book.
This usage is reported as apparently post-classical.
- Lane · entry 41412
سَفَّانٌ
A builder of ships or boats; a navigator or master of a ship or boat.
The word can refer to the shipbuilder, navigator, or person in command.
- Lane · entry 41413
سَفَّانَةٌ
A pearl.
- Lane · entry 41414
السَّافِينُ
A particular vein on the inner side of the spine, running lengthwise and connected with the heart.
An anatomical term; it is distinguished in the source from the similarly named saphenous vein.
- Lane · entry 41416
سِيفَنَّةٌ
A bird reported in Egypt that strips a tree of its leaves.
A rare zoological designation.
- Lane · entry 41417
سَفِينَةٌ
By metaphor, any easy-riding vehicle or mount likened to a ship.
A figurative extension of the ship meaning, distinct from the Quranic watercraft usage.
- Mufradāt · row 700
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The supplied Quranic evidence contains only the noun سَفِينَةٌ meaning ship or boat; the other derivatives and extensions listed here are broader Classical Arabic evidence, not additional Quranic forms.