Quranic root
خفت
kh · f · t
The root centers on keeping speech inward, concealed, or subdued: secret or suppressed utterance.
From concealed or lowered speech, the lexical field extends to quietness and stillness, and in broader Classical Arabic to weakness, death, subdued natural phenomena, and several specialized uses.
- Maqāyīs · row 1617
- Lane · entry 19618
- Lane · entry 19622
- 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.
خَافَتَ
khāfata
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form III
- Form
- III
- 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 speak or recite in a secret, low, or suppressed voice.
Used with speech or recitation when the utterance is deliberately subdued rather than openly voiced.
- Mufradāt · row 423
- Lane · entry 19620
Selected Quran examples
Quran 17:110word 17
“be silent”
تَخَافَتَ
takhāfata
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VI
- Form
- VI
- 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 speak secretly or quietly with one another; to confer in hushed tones.
A reciprocal or collective construction for people communicating among themselves in concealed or subdued speech.
- Mufradāt · row 423
- Lane · entry 19622
Selected Quran examples
Quran 20:103word 1
“They are murmuring”
Quran 68:23word 3
“lowered (their) voices”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 17:110تُخَافِتْbe silent
- 20:103يَتَخَـٰفَتُونَThey are murmuring
- 68:23يَتَخَـٰفَتُونَlowered (their) voices
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
خَفَتَ، خَفْتٌ
Of a voice or speaker, to become still, silent, low, soft, or subdued; خَفْتٌ is speaking with a suppressed voice, including reciting indistinctly.
Applied to voices, speech, and recitation; a weak or dying speaker may be described as having ceased speaking.
- Lane · entry 19618
- Lane · entry 19623
- Lane · entry 19625
- Lane · entry 19628
خَفَتَ
To become weak through vehement hunger.
Specifically attested of weakness resulting from intense hunger.
- Lane · entry 19618
خَفَتَ
To die, especially to die suddenly.
The sudden-death usage is associated with the infinitive خُفَاتًا.
- Lane · entry 19618
خَفَتَ
To become weak, abject, or abased.
A further Classical use of the verb, distinct from the sense of dying.
- Lane · entry 19618
خَفَّتَ
To silence or kill by a blow, such as a stroke of a sword.
A transitive use reported of striking or smiting.
- Lane · entry 19619
خَافَتَ
Of camels, to ruminate.
Specialized usage with camels as the subject.
- Lane · entry 19620
أَخْفَتَ
Of a she-camel, to give birth on the day of the year in which she was impregnated, or about a year after covering.
A specialized reproductive term applied to a she-camel.
- Lane · entry 19621
تَخَافَتَ
To feign or make a false show of weakness and stillness.
A figurative or marked Classical use, separate from actual hushed conversation.
- Lane · entry 19622
خَفْتٌ
A low or depressed tract of ground.
Reported as a synonym of خَبْتٌ in one dictionary tradition.
- Lane · entry 19623
خُفْتٌ / خَفْتٌ
Rue, the plant سَذَابٌ.
Reported under differing vocalizations and in a variant dictionary account; the evidence contrasts this usage with the lowland meaning.
- Lane · entry 19623
- Lane · entry 19624
خُفَاتٌ
Weakness of hearing.
Attested as a specialized noun, reported from a tradition.
- Lane · entry 19625
خُفَاتٌ
Weak, abject, or abased.
Used adjectivally or in an epithet expressing weakness and abasement.
- Lane · entry 19618
- Lane · entry 19625
خَفُوتٌ
A lean or emaciated woman, or one scarcely seen distinctly because of leanness.
A specialized epithet explicitly applied to a woman.
- Lane · entry 19626
خَفُوتٌ
A woman regarded as goodly or beautiful, whose appearance attracts notice when she is alone but not when she is among other women.
An alternative specialized explanation of the same epithet, explicitly restricted to the described social comparison.
- Lane · entry 19626
خَافِتٌ
Of a cloud, lacking water and remaining in place, with at most faint or infrequent lightning.
A specialized description of a cloud that does not travel like a water-bearing cloud.
- Lane · entry 19628
خَافِتٌ
Of seed-produce, dying or dead, or stunted and not fully grown.
The descriptions include produce that has not reached its full height; an alternative explanation describes it as fresh, juicy, soft, or tender.
- Lane · entry 19618
- Lane · entry 19628
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The noun خَفْتٌ/خُفْتٌ has conflicting reported assignments: one account gives a low or depressed tract of ground, while another gives rue; both are retained as Classical alternatives.
The description of خَافِتٌ applied to seed-produce includes divergent reported interpretations, from dying or stunted produce to fresh, soft, or tender produce.
The specialized epithet خَفُوتٌ has competing Classical explanations concerning leanness versus beauty when a woman is viewed alone.