Quranic root
سقف
s · q · f
An elevated, overhanging form, with an associated idea of bending or bowing.
The semantic development centers on the roof or ceiling as something high and projecting, extends to the sky as the earth’s roof and to roofed structures or boards, and yields related descriptions of tall, bent forms.
- Maqāyīs · row 2452
- Mufradāt · row 704
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- 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.
سَقْف
saqf
- 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 roof, ceiling, or overhead covering.
Used for a roof or ceiling of a house or other structure, and for an overhead covering described as protective. The singular can carry a plural sense in the Quranic expression referring to roofs of silver.
- Lane · entry 41508
- Mufradāt · row 704
Selected Quran examples
The sky or heaven, conceived as a roof over the earth.
A specialized Quran-attested application in which the heavens are understood as the elevated covering or roof of the earth.
- Lane · entry 41508
- Mufradāt · row 704
Selected Quran examples
Quran 52:5word 1
“By the roof”
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 18 Classical meanings
سَقَفَ، سَقَّفَ، أَسْقَفَ
To make a roof or ceiling for a house, chamber, or tent; to roof or cover a structure.
The Form II derivative may convey intensive force; the forms are explicitly cross-referenced within this roofing construction.
- Lane · entry 41504
- Lane · entry 41505
- Lane · entry 41506
سُقِّفَ
To be made a bishop.
Passive Form II construction.
- Lane · entry 41505
تَسَقَّفَ
To become a bishop.
A Form V denominative or derived construction referring to attaining the office of bishop.
- Lane · entry 41507
سَقِفٌ، سَقَفٌ، أَسْقَفُ
Tall and bent or bowed; in one usage, thick-boned.
Applied to people and animals, including an ostrich or she-camel; the descriptions concern height, curvature, or bodily build rather than a roof itself.
- Lane · entry 41504
- Lane · entry 41510
- Lane · entry 41516
سَقِفٌ
Long, flaccid, or pendulous, especially of the jaw or the part on which the beard grows.
An adjectival bodily description.
- Lane · entry 41508
أَسْقَفُ
Hairless, of a camel.
A specialized description of a camel lacking fur.
- Lane · entry 41516
سَقِيفَةٌ
A roofed or covered place, such as a portico, porch, projecting shelter, or covered passage.
The term can denote a covered portion of a building or street and similar roofed structures.
- Lane · entry 41513
سَقِيفَةٌ
A broad piece of wood or stone used as a roof, covering, or structural board.
Includes a board used over a hunter’s lurking-place, flat pieces used to cover a hollow, and a broad board laid above house roofs for reed mats.
- Lane · entry 41513
سَقِيفَةٌ
A plank of a ship or boat.
A specialized extended use, apparently referring to a plank of the deck.
- Lane · entry 41513
سَقِيفَةٌ
A single cranial bone of a camel.
The camel’s cranial bones are termed سَقَائِفُ collectively.
- Lane · entry 41513
سَقِيفَةٌ
A single rib of a camel.
The camel’s ribs are termed سَقَائِفُ collectively.
- Lane · entry 41513
سَقِيفَةٌ
A splint used to set or support a fractured bone.
A piece of wood or similar material applied in bone treatment.
- Lane · entry 41513
سَقِيفَةٌ
A piece of gold or silver beaten thin and long.
An extended material use for thin, elongated beaten metal.
- Lane · entry 41513
سَقَّافٌ
A person whose occupation is constructing roofs or ceilings.
An occupational noun derived from the roofing sense.
- Lane · entry 41514
أُسْقُفٌ، أُسْقُفٌّ
A bishop: a Christian religious headman or learned religious authority.
One description places the office above a presbyter and below a metropolitan; an alternative account describes a ruler who affects humility in his gait.
- Lane · entry 41516
- Lane · entry 41518
سِقِيفَى، أُسْقُفِيَّةٌ
The office or rank of a bishop.
A noun denoting episcopal office rather than the person holding it.
- Lane · entry 41515
مُسَقَّفٌ
Wide in the bone or bones of the body.
A bodily description referring to broad skeletal structure.
- Lane · entry 41520
مُسَقْفَفٌ
Raised, shaggy, dishevelled, or disordered hair.
Applied specifically to the condition or arrangement of hair.
- Lane · entry 41521
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic noun is normalized under the singular citation form سَقْف; its supplied occurrences include singular and plural surface forms.
One historical Lane lexical item, السُّقَفَآءَ, remains unresolved because its meaning is explicitly reported as unknown and its proposed correction points to another word.
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
lane-unit:sqf:41511:g1:main: السُّقَفَآءَ is reported as an unknown word; the proposed correction to الشُّفَعَاء is not confidently assignable to this root.