Mashrabaمشربة

خوفa single sound sense denoting dhuʿr wa fazaʿ — dread and fright. (root khwf)

الخاء والواو والفاء أصل واحد يدل على الذعر والفزع

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha · English rendering

خوف
Patterns computed · our data

The words of خ و ف that our sources attest: the root's letters in green, the added letters in gold.

24 words5 verbs3 verbal nouns4 participles2 places and instruments3 intensives and elatives4 other nouns3 plurals

  • خَافَhe feared, or was afraid of, him, or it
  • خَوْفfear
  • خِيفَة—
  • خَوَّفَhe put fear into him
  • خَائِفfearing
The whole family7 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs5خَافَ · خَوَّفَ · أَخافَ

The root as an action: the bare Form I, and the Forms made by adding letters before, inside or after the root.grammar →

Verbal nouns3خَوْف · تَخْوِيف · تَخَوُّف

The action itself, named as a noun (maṣdar).grammar →

Participles4خَائِف · مُتَخَوَّف · مُخَاف

The one who does it, and the one it is done to.grammar →

  • خَائِفfearingLaneactive, Form IQurʾān ×3Lane
  • مُتَخَوَّفpassive, Form VLane
  • مُخَافroad of which the people, or passengers, are caused to fear, by robbersLanepassive, Form IVLane
  • مُخِيفwall that causes one to fear that it will fallLaneactive, Form IVLane
Place, time and instrument2مَخُوف · مَخِيف

Where or when it happens, and what it is done with: the m- nouns.grammar →

  • مَخُوفroad in which people fearLanenoun of place or timeLane
  • مَخِيفnoun of place or timeLane
Intensives, qualities and the elative3أَخْوَف · خَوَّاف · خُوَيْف

The quality carried far, held as a trait, or compared.grammar →

  • أَخْوَفmore, and most, formidable, fearful, or fearedLaneelative or colour adjective (afʿal)library ×1Lane
  • خَوَّافintensive (faʿʿāl)Lane
  • خُوَيْفquality (faʿīl)Lane
Other nouns4خِيفَة · خَوَاف · خُوَيْفَة

Nouns on other patterns; their meaning is learned word by word.grammar →

  • خِيفَةnounQurʾān ×6LaneIbn Fāris
  • خَوَافvociferation, clamour, or a confused noise, of a company of menLanenounLane
  • خُوَيْفَةnounLane
  • خِيفnounLane
Plurals3خَائِفِين · خُوَّف · خِيف

Broken plurals rebuild the word on a new pattern; sound plurals add an ending.grammar →

  • خَائِفِينplural of fearingfrom the singularsound plural of خَائِفQurʾān ×1
  • خُوَّفplural of fearingfrom the singularbroken plural of خَائِفLane
  • خِيفbroken plural of خِيفَةLane
Why this shape?What each of the 17 patterns does

What each pattern does. The pattern gives a tendency, not a rule: many words have drifted into meanings of their own.

The pattern machinePour the root into a pattern; see whether the word exists

Choose a pattern; the root's letters pour into it. Then see whether the word exists in our sources. The machine makes shapes; only usage makes words.

مَفْعَلَةخ و فمَخْوَفَة

Not in our sources. A possible shape, not a word we can show: the Quran, the library and Lane do not have it for this root.

Place noun with -a. The place noun with the feminine -a. Sometimes it is only a variant of mafʿal; often it names the place where a thing is found in abundance (maʾsada, 'a place full of lions'). So maktab is the place of writing, and maktaba, where writings are gathered: a library, a bookshop. Our summary

But: maktaba is not in our classical dictionaries for k-t-b: Lane and al-Jawharī give maktab ('a school'), none gives maktaba. Its sense of 'library, bookshop' fits the pattern of abundance, but that is our reading of the pattern, not a classical entry. Many mafʿala words are single items of usage (maqbara 'cemetery'), which the grammarians call heard, not formed by rule.

The grammarians on this pattern (4)
  • ما يكون مفعلة لازمة لها الهاء والفتحة … وذلك إذا أردت أن تكثر الشيء بالمكان، وذلك قولك: أرض مسبعة، ومأسدة

    Chapter on what is mafʿala, with the -a and the a-vowel always: that is when you mean that a thing abounds in a place, as you say 'a land of many beasts of prey (masbaʿa), of many lions (maʾsada)'

    Sībawayh (d. c. 180/796), al-Kitāb, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām Hārūn, 3rd ed. (Cairo: al-Khānjī, 1988), 4:94 · OpenITI line 21027–21028 ↗ · on this site · OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

  • و نحو المظنة و المقبرة فتحا و ضما ليس بقياس

    and words like maẓinna and maqbara (with a or u) are not by rule

    Ibn al-Ḥājib (d. 646/1249), al-Shāfiya fī ʿilm al-taṣrīf, ed. Ḥasan Aḥmad al-ʿUthmān (Mecca: al-Maktaba al-Makkiyya, 1995), 1:30 · OpenITI line 223 ↗ · on this site · OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

  • “designate the place where the object signified by the noun from which they are formed, is found in large numbers or quantities” Wright, Grammar I, §247, p. 148 ↗ · on nouns of abundance, maf'ala · 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1896) · public domain
  • “Nouns of time and place not unfrequently take the feminine form” Wright, Grammar I, §225, p. 128 ↗ · on maf'ala as a variant of maf'al · 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1896) · public domain

This root has a weak or doubled letter, so real words change shape (qāla → qāʾil, not qāwil); the machine pours the letters in as they are, and matches attested words by their regular pattern.

About thisWhat “attested” means here; the sources

Attested means found in our data: the Quranic Arabic Corpus (lemmas, verb Forms, participles, verbal nouns, plurals), the library's words (automatic analysis), Lane's Lexicon (his headwords, the Forms he numbers, the verbal nouns and plurals he names) and Ibn Fāris's entry. Nothing is generated for this list. Meanings are Lane's first gloss in his entry, or else the analyser's gloss (“auto”). Vowelling follows the corpus, then Lane, then the analyser; verbs are given in the regular perfect. Lane's Lexicon thins out after qāf, and a few of his entries cover several roots at once: those roots show no Lane. The patterns, written with ف ع ل, are computed by us.

English: AI translation
  • al-Khalīl · 170Al-khayfānah (الخيفانة): the locust before its two wings have become fully even/formed.

    al-Khalīl b. Aḥmad (d. c. 170/786), Kitāb al-ʿAyn. The first Arabic dictionary, arranged by permutations of the root letters.

    Al-khayfānah (الخيفانة): the locust before its two wings have become fully even/formed. Al-khayf (الخيف) is the verbal noun of khayifa (خيف); the descriptive adjective is akhyaf (أخيف) [feminine khayfā' (خيفاء)], and its plural is khūf (خوف). Al-khayf: [the condition of] one eye being blue and the other black, or something resembling that. Al-akhyāf (الأخياف): different kinds/states; 'the people are akhyāf (الناس أخياف)' means they are in various different states. 'Children who are akhyāf (أولاد أخياف)' [means they were] from one mother but different fathers. 'This matter was khīf (خيف) among them,' meaning it was divided/apportioned. 'The gum-flesh between the teeth became khīfat (خيفت),' meaning it became separated. Al-khayf: the udder of the she-camel; it is also said [to mean] her dewlap (jirān) or the skin of her rump. Al-khayf: a place in Mecca.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الخيفانة: الجرادة قبل أن يستوي جناحاها. والخيف مصدر خيف، والنعت أخيف [وخيفاء] ، وجمعه: خوف. والخيف: كون إحدى العينين زرقاء والأخرى سوداء أو ما يشبهها. والأخياف: الأطوار، والناس أخياف أي على حالات شتى. وأولاد أخياف: [ما كانوا] لأم [واحدة] وآباء شتى. وخيف هذا الأمر بينهم أي: وزع. وخيفت عمور اللثة بين الأسنان أي: تفرقت. والخيف: ضرع الناقة «1» ، ويقال: جرانها وجلدة دبرها. والخيف: موضع بمكة.

  • al-Jawharī · 393Al-khayf (الخيف): what slopes down from the bulk of a mountain and rises above the watercourse.

    al-Jawharī (d. c. 393/1003), al-Ṣiḥāḥ. Admits only usage he judged sound.

    Al-khayf (الخيف): what slopes down from the bulk of a mountain and rises above the watercourse. From this the Mosque of al-Khayf at Minā was named. One says akhāfa (أخاف) [of] the people, when they came to the khayf of Minā and camped there. Al-khayf also [means]: the skin of the udder. One says: 'a she-camel khayfā' (خيفاء), clearly showing khayf (بينة الخيف),' and 'a camel akhyaf (أخيف): wide in the prepuce (thīl)' — and it is said khayifa (خيف), with kasra. Likewise a horse akhyaf (أخيف), showing khayf (بين الخيف), when one of its eyes is blue and the other black — and likewise this applies to anything [with such a quality]. From this it is said: 'the people are akhyāf (أخياف),' meaning different/varied. And 'brothers who are akhyāf (إخوة أخياف),' when their mother is one but the fathers differ. Al-khayfān (الخيفان): locusts when variegated lines of white and yellow appear on them, singular khayfānah (خيفانة); then the horse is likened to it for its lightness and its bounding. Imru' al-Qays said: 'And I ride, in the terror [of battle], a khayfānah (خيفانة), whose face is clad in scattered palm-fronds.'

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الخيف: ما انحدر عن غلظ الجبل وارتفع عن مسيل الماء. ومنه سمي مسجد الخيف بمنى. وقد أخاف القوم، إذا أتوا خيف منى فنزلوه. والخيف أيضا: جلد الضرع. يقال: ناقة خيفاء بينة الخيف، وجمل أخيف: واسع الثيل وقد خيف بالكسر. وكذلك فرس أخيف، بين الخيف، إذا كانت إحدى عينيه زرقاء والأخرى سوداء، وكذلك هو من كل شئ. ومنه قيل: الناس أخياف، أي مختلفون. وإخوة أخياف، إذا كانت أمهم واحدة والآباء شتى. والخيفان: الجراد إذا صارت فيه خطوط مختلفة بياض وصفرة، الواحدة خيفانة، ثم تشبه به الفرس في خفتها وطمورها. قال امرؤ القيس وأركب في الروع خيفانة كسا وجهها سعف منتشر (1)

  • Ibn Fāris · 395Khā', wāw, and fā' constitute one root indicating alarm and fright.

    Ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004), Maqāyīs al-Lugha. Seeks each root's original sense (aṣl).

    Khā', wāw, and fā' constitute one root indicating alarm and fright. One says khiftu (خفت) the thing, khawfan (خوفا) and khīfatan (خيفة) — the yā' being substituted for wāw due to the kasra. One also says: khāwafanī fulān (خاوفني فلان) fa-khiftuhu (فخفته), i.e., 'so-and-so vied with me in fear, and I outdid him,' meaning I was more fearful than he. As for their saying takhawwaftu (تخوفت) the thing, meaning 'I diminished it' — this is correct and eloquent, though it derives from substitution, the original [letter] being nūn, from tanaqquṣ (diminishment), which has been discussed in its [proper] place.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الخاء والواو والفاء أصل واحد يدل على الذعر والفزع يقال خفت الشيء خوفا وخيفة والياء مبدلة من واو لمكان الكسرة ويقال خاوفني فلان فخفته أي كنت أشد خوفا منه فأما قولهم تخوفت الشيء أي تنقصته فهو الصحيح الفصيح إلا أنه من الإبدال والأصل النون من التنقص وقد ذكر في موضعه

  • al-Rāghib · 502Al-khawf (الخوف): the anticipation of something disliked, based on a presumed or known indication — just as rajā' (hope) and ṭama' (desire) are the anticipation of something loved, based on a presumed or known indication

    al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. c. 502/1108), al-Mufradāt. Quranic vocabulary, from core sense to Quranic usage.

    Al-khawf (الخوف): the anticipation of something disliked, based on a presumed or known indication — just as rajā' (hope) and ṭama' (desire) are the anticipation of something loved, based on a presumed or known indication. Al-khawf is opposed by al-amn (security), and the term is used for both worldly and otherworldly matters. God, exalted, said: 'and they hope for His mercy and fear His punishment' [al-Isrā'/57]. And He said: 'How should I fear what you associate [with Him], when you do not fear that you have associated partners with God?' [al-An'ām/81]. And God, exalted, said: 'Their sides forsake their beds, calling upon their Lord in fear and hope' [al-Sajdah/16]. And He said: 'And if you fear that you will not deal justly...' [al-Nisā'/3]. And His saying: 'And if you fear a breach between the two of them...' [al-Nisā'/35] — this has been explained as meaning 'if you know,' its true sense being: 'if fear of that befalls you due to your knowledge [of the situation].' Fear of God is not meant to signify what comes to mind as terror, such as the sense of dread one feels toward a lion; rather, what is meant by it is refraining from sins and choosing obedience. Hence it was said: 'One who has not abandoned sins is not counted as fearful [of God].' Takhwīf (تخويف, instilling fear) from God, exalted, means urging [people] to guard themselves, as in His saying, exalted: 'That is [how] God frightens His servants with it' [al-Zumar/16]. God, exalted, forbade fear of Satan and heeding his attempts to instill fear, saying: 'That is only Satan who frightens his allies; so do not fear them, but fear Me, if you are believers' [Āl 'Imrān/175] — meaning: do not obey the command of Satan, but obey the command of God. It is said: takhawwafnāhum (تخوفناهم), meaning 'we diminished them,' a diminishment necessitated by fear of him. And His saying, exalted: 'And indeed, I fear the kinsmen (al-mawālī) after me' [Maryam/5] — his fear of them was that they would not observe the Sharī'ah nor preserve the order of religion, not that they would inherit his wealth, as some ignorant people have supposed; for worldly possessions are too base in the estimation of the prophets, peace be upon them, for them to be anxious over. Al-khīfah (الخيفة): the state a person is in due to fear. God, exalted, said: 'And he sensed within himself a khīfah (خيفة) [fear] — Moses. We said: Do not fear' [Ṭāhā/67]. It is used in the sense of khawf in His saying: 'and the angels, out of khīfatihi (خيفته) [fear of Him]' [al-Ra'd/13], and His saying: 'you fear them as your khīfah (خيفة) of yourselves' [al-Rūm/28], i.e., 'as your khawf.' The specific choice of the word khīfah indicates that fear of them is an inherent state that never leaves them. Al-takhawwuf (التخوف): the appearance of fear from a person. He said: 'or that He would seize them in [a state of] takhawwuf' [al-Naḥl/47].

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الخوف: توقع مكروه عن أمارة مظنونة، أو معلومة، كما أن الرجاء والطمع توقع محبوب عن أمارة مظنونة، أو معلومة، ويضاد الخوف الأمن، ويستعمل ذلك في الأمور الدنيوية والأخروية. قال تعالى: ويرجون رحمته ويخافون عذابه [الإسراء/ 57] ، وقال: وكيف أخاف ما أشركتم ولا تخافون أنكم أشركتم بالله [الأنعام/ 81] ، وقال تعالى: تتجافى جنوبهم عن المضاجع يدعون ربهم خوفا وطمعا [السجدة/ 16] ، وقال: وإن خفتم ألا تقسطوا [النساء/ 3] ، وقوله: وإن خفتم شقاق بينهما [النساء/ 35] ، فقد فسر ذلك بعرفتم «3» ، وحقيقته: وإن وقع لكم خوف من ذلك لمعرفتكم. والخوف من الله لا يراد به ما يخطر بالبال من الرعب، كاستشعار الخوف من الأسد، بل إنما يراد به الكف عن المعاصي واختيار الطاعات، ولذلك قيل: لا يعد خائفا من لم يكن للذنوب تاركا. والتخويف من الله تعالى: هو الحث على التحرز، وعلى ذلك قوله تعالى: ذلك يخوف الله به عباده [الزمر/ 16] ، ونهى الله تعالى عن مخافة الشيطان، والمبالاة بتخويفه فقال: إنما ذلكم الشيطان يخوف أولياءه فلا تخافوهم وخافون إن كنتم مؤمنين [آل عمران/ 175] ، أي: فلا تأتمروا لشيطان وائتمروا لله، ويقال: تخوفناهم أي: تنقصناهم تنقصا اقتضاه الخوف منه. وقوله تعالى: وإني خفت الموالي من ورائي [مريم/ 5] ، فخوفه منهم: أن لا يراعوا الشريعة، ولا يحفظوا نظام الدين، لا أن يرثوا ماله كما ظنه بعض الجهلة، فالقنيات الدنيوية أخس عند الأنبياء عليهم السلام من أن يشفقوا عليها. والخيفة: الحالة التي عليها الإنسان من الخوف، قال تعالى: فأوجس في نفسه خيفة موسى قلنا: لا تخف [طه/ 67] ، واستعمل استعمال الخوف في قوله: والملائكة من خيفته [الرعد/ 13] ، وقوله: تخافونهم كخيفتكم أنفسكم [الروم/ 28] ، أي: كخوفكم، وتخصيص لفظ الخيفة تنبيها أن الخوف منهم حالة لازمة لا تفارقهم، والتخوف: ظهور الخوف من الإنسان، قال: أو يأخذهم على تخوف [النحل/ 47] .

  • Lisān · 711Khayifa (خيف) [is said of] the camel, the human, the horse, and others, khayafan (خيفا);

    Ibn Manẓūr (d. 711/1311), Lisān al-ʿArab. The great compendium of the earlier dictionaries (entry shortened).

    Khayifa (خيف) [is said of] the camel, the human, the horse, and others, khayafan (خيفا); such a one is akhyaf (أخيف), bayyin al-khayaf (بين الخيف), and the feminine is khayfā' (خيفاء) — when one of its eyes is black and kohl-dark and the other blue. In the ḥadīth describing Abū Bakr, may God be pleased with him: 'akhyaf Banī Taym' (أخيف بني تيم). Al-khayaf in a man is that one of his eyes be blue and the other black; the plural is khūf (خوف), and likewise it applies to anything [with such a quality]. Al-akhyāf (الأخياف): different kinds, varying in character and form. Al-akhyāf among people: those whose mother is one but whose fathers differ. It is said: 'the people are akhyāf,' meaning they are not uniform; the same is said of brothers: 'brothers who are akhyāf.' Al-akhyāf [also denotes]: difference of fathers while the mother is one; from this it is said 'the people are akhyāf,' meaning different/varied. 'The woman khayyafat (خيفت) her children' means she bore them differing [from one another]. 'The camels takhayyafat (تخيفت) in the pasture, etc.' means their appearances differed — from al-Liḥyānī. Al-khāfah (الخافة): a leather pouch carried by the honey-gatherer; it is also said to be a satchel like a pouch, raised up with its opening lifted for [collecting] honey; said to be so named because of the takhyīf (تخيف) of its colors, i.e., their variegation. Al-Layth said: its diminutive is khuwayfah (خويفة), and its derivation is from al-khawf (fear); it is a leather garment worn by the honey-gatherer and the water-carrier. Abū Manṣūr said: his statement that its derivation is from al-khawf is an error; what I hold is that it is from al-ḥawf (الحوف), with ḥā', though this is not the place [to discuss it]. 'The matter was khīf (خيف) among them': it was apportioned. 'The gum-flesh between the teeth became khīfat (خيفت)': it became separated. Al-khayfānah (الخيفانة): the locust when variegated lines of white and yellow appear upon it; plural khayfān (خيفان). Al-Liḥyānī said: 'khayfān locusts' are those whose colors have varied, the locust then being at its most capable of flight; it is also said that al-khayfān are the thin, red locusts, offspring of the previous year; and also said that they are locusts before their wings have become fully formed. A she-camel khayfānah (خيفانة): swift — likened to the locust for its swiftness; likewise the horse is likened to the locust for its lightness and leanness. 'Antarah said: 'So I set out in the morning, carrying my weapons, on a khayfānah (خيفانة), smooth of limb, with a long, upraised neck.' Abū Naṣr said: the Arabs liken horses to khayfān (locusts). Imru' al-Qays said: 'And I ride, in the terror [of battle], a khayfānah (خيفانة), having a tail trailing behind it.' And this verse appears in al-Ṣiḥāḥ as: 'And I ride, in the terror [of battle], a khayfānah (خيفانة), whose face is clad in scattered palm-fronds.' It is said: 'so-and-so takhayyafa (تخيف) [various] colors,' meaning his colors changed. Al-Kumayt said: 'And the waterskin does not vary in mottled colors regarding the good qualities of its character.' Ibn Sīdah [said]: sometimes land of variously-colored stones is called khayfā' (خيفاء). Al-khayf (الخيف): the skin of the udder — some say specifically the skin of the she-camel's udder; it is also said that it is not called khayf until it is empty of milk and has become slack. 'A she-camel khayfā', clearly showing... [entry continues]'

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    خيف البعير والإنسان والفرس وغيره خيفا، وهو أخيف بين الخيف، والأنثى خيفاء إذا كانت إحدى عينيه سوداء كحلاء والأخرى زرقاء. وفي الحديث في صفة أبي بكر، رضي الله عنه: أخيف بني تيم ؛ الخيف في الرجل أن تكون إحدى عينيه زرقاء والأخرى سوداء، والجمع خوف، وكذلك هو من كل شيء. والأخياف: الضروب المختلفة في الأخلاق والأشكال. والأخياف من الناس: الذين أمهم واحدة وآباؤهم شتى. يقال: الناس أخياف أي لا يستوون، ويقال ذلك في الإخوة، يقال: إخوة أخياف. والأخياف: اختلاف الآباء وأمهم واحدة، ومنه قيل: الناس أخياف أي مختلفون. وخيفت المرأة أولادها: جاءت بهم مختلفين. وتخيفت الإبل في المرعى وغيره: اختلفت وجوهها؛ عن اللحياني. والخافة: خريطة من أدم تكون مع مشتار العسل، وقيل: هي سفرة كالخريطة مصعدة قد رفع رأسها للعسل، قيل: سميت بذلك لتخيف ألوانها أي اختلافها، قال الليث: تصغيرها خويفة واشتقاقها من الخوف، وهي جبة من أدم يلبسها العسال والسقاء، قال أبو منصور: قوله اشتقاقها من الخوف خطأ والذي أراه الحوف، بالحاء، وليس هذا موضعه. وخيف الأمر بينهم: وزع. وخيفت عمور اللثة بين الأسنان: فرقت. والخيفانة: الجرادة إذا صارت فيها خطوط مختلفة بياض وصفرة، والجمع خيفان. وقال اللحياني: جراد خيفان اختلفت فيه الألوان والجراد حينئذ أطير ما يكون، وقيل الخيفان من الجراد المهازيل الحمر الذي من نتاج عام أول، وقيل: هي الجراد قبل أن تستوي أجنحته. وناقة خيفانة: سريعة، شبهت بالجراد لسرعتها، وكذلك الفرس شبهت بالجرادة لخفتها وضمورها؛ قال عنترة: فغدوت تحمل شكتي خيفانة، ... مرط الجراء لها تميم أتلع قال أبو نصر: العرب تشبه الخيل بالخيفان؛ قال امرؤ القيس: وأركب في الروع خيفانة، ... لها ذنب خلفها مسبطر وهذا البيت في الصحاح: وأركب في الروع خيفانة، ... كسا وجهها سعف منتشر ويقال: تخيف فلان ألوانا إذا تغير ألوانا؛ قال الكميت: وما تخيف ألوانا مفننة، ... عن المحاسن من إخلاقه، الوطب ابن سيده: وربما سميت الأرض المختلفة ألوان الحجارة خيفاء. والخيف: جلد الضرع ومنهم من قال: جلد ضرع الناقة، وقيل: لا يكون خيفا حتى يخلو من اللبن ويسترخي. وناقة خيفاء بينة الخيف: واسعة جلد الضرع، والجمع خيفاوات، وخيف الأولى نادرة لأن فعلاوات إنما هي للاسم أو الصفة الغالبة غلبة الاسم كقوله، صلى الله عليه وسلم: ليس في الخضراوات صدقة. وحكى اللحياني: ما كانت الناقة خيفاء ولقد خيفت خيفا. والخيف: وعاء قضيب البعير. وبعير أخيف: واسع جلد الثيل؛ قال: صوى لها ذا كدنة جلذيا ... أخيف، كانت أمه صفيا أي غزيرة. وقد خيف، بالكسر. والخيف: ما ارتفع عن موضع مجرى السيل ومسيل الماء وانحدر عن غلظ الجبل، والجمع أخياف؛ قال قيس بن ذريح: فغيقة فالأخياف، أخياف ظبية، ... بها من لبينى مخرف ومرابع «2» ومنه قيل مسجد الخيف بمنى لأنه في خيف الجبل. ابن سيده: وخيف مكة موضع فيها عند منى، سمي بذلك لانحداره عن الغلظ وارتفاعه عن السيل. وفي الحديث: نحن نازلون غدا بخيف بني كنانة ، يعني المحصب. ومسجد منى يسمى مسجد الخيف لأنه في سفح جبلها. وفي حديث بدر: مضى في مسيره إليها حتى قطع الخيوف ؛ هي جمع خيف. وأخيف القوم وأخافوا إذا نزلوا الخيف خيف منى أو أتوه؛ قال: هل في مخيفتكم من يشتري أدما والخيف: جمع خيفة من الخوف. أبو عمرو: الخيفة السكين وهي الرميض. وتخيف ماله: تنقصه وأخذ من أطرافه كتحيفه؛ حكاه يعقوب وعده في البدل، والحاء أعلى. والخيفان: حشيش ينبت في الجبل وليس له ورق إنما هو حشيش، وهو يطول حتى يكون أطول من ذراع صعدا، وله سنمة صبيغاء بيضاء السفل؛ جعله كراع فيعالا؛ قال ابن سيده: وليس بقوي لكثرة زيادة الألف والنون لأنه ليس في الكلام خ ف ن.

  • Lane · 1876English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

    E. W. Lane (d. 1876), An Arabic-English Lexicon. English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

    خَافَ

    1. خَافَ, (S, Msb, K, &c.,) originally خَوِفَ, (Lth, L, &c.,) first pers. خِفْتُ, (TA,) aor. يَخَافُ, (S, K, &c.,) originally يَخْوَفُ, (L,) imperative خَفْ, (S,) inf. n. خَوْفٌ (S, Msb, K, &c.) and خِيفٌ, [originally خِوْفٌ,] (Lh, TA,) erroneously written in the K with fet-h [to the خ], but some say that this is a simple subst., not an inf. n., (TA,) and خِيفَةٌ, (Lh, S, Msb, K, &c.,) originally خِوْفَةٌ, (K,) but some say that this also is a simple subst., not an inf. n., (TA,) and [therefore] its pl. is خِيفٌ, (Lh, JK, S, and so in the CK,) in [some of] the copies of the K erroneously written خِيَفٌ, (TA,) or this [as well as the next preceding] may be an inf. n., for some few inf. ns. have pls., (ISd, TA,) and مَخَافَةٌ, (S, Msb, K, &c.,) originally مَخْوَفَةٌ, for which last, the first of these inf. ns. is used by a poet, and therefore made fem., (TA,) He feared; he was afraid or frightened or terrified; syn. فَزِعَ. (K.) It is also trans.: (Msb:) you say, خَافَهُ and تخوّفهُ [He feared, or was afraid of, him, or it]; (Msb, TA;) both signifying the same: (TA:) [and so خَافَ مِنْهُ; or this may mean he feared what might happen to him from him, or it:] and عَلَيْهِ شَيْئًا تخوّف, meaning خَافَهُ [i. e. خَافَ عَلَيْهِ شَيْئًا He feared for him a thing]: (S, K:) and خَاَفَهُ عَلَى مَالِهِ and عَلَيْهِ تخوّفهُ [He feared him, or it, for his property]. (Mgh.) [Hence,] it is also used in the sense of ظَنَّ [He thought, or opined]: and in this case, the Arabs sometimes use it in the same manner as a verb signifying an oath, and give it the same kind of complement; as in an ex. cited voce دَرِدَ [q. v.]. (S in art. درد.) And He knew. (Lh, Kr, K.) Hence, وَإِنِ ٱمْرَأَةٌ خَافَتْ مِنْ بَعْلِهَا نُشُوزًا [And if a woman know that there is, on the part of her husband, injurious treatment, or unkindness, or estrangement], (K,) in the Kur [iv. 127]. (TA.) And hence also, فَمَنْ خَافَ مِنْ مُوصٍ جَنَفًا [And he who knoweth that there is, on the part of the testator, an inclining to a wrong course, or a declining from the right course, &c.], (K,) in the Kur [ii. 178]; thus explained by Lh. (TA.) خَافَهُ, (S,) first pers. خُفْتُهُ, (K,) aor. يَخُوفُهُ, (S,) He exceeded him in fear. (S, K. *) You say, فَخَافَهُ خَاوَفَهُ, (S,) inf. n. of the former مُخَاوَفَهُ, (TA,) i. e. [He vied with him to see which of them would exceed the other in fear, and] he exceeded him in fear. (S.)

    خوّفهُ

    2. خوّفهُ, (Msb, K,) inf. n. تَخْوِيفٌ, (TA,) i. q. أَخَافَهُ. (Msb, K.) See the latter, in two places. He put fear into him. (JK, TA.) خَوِّفْنَا [app. addressed to God] is mentioned by Lh as meaning Render the Kur-án and the Traditions beautiful to us in order that we may [give heed thereto and] fear. (TA.) He made him to be in such a state, or condition, that men feared him; (JK, K;) he made him to be feared by men. (M.) Hence, in the Kur [iii. 169], إِنَّمَا ذٰلِكُمُ ٱلشَّيْطَانُ يُخَوِّفُ أَوْلِيَآءَهُ, i. e. [Verily that is the devil:] he causeth his friends to be feared by you: [or that devil causeth &c.:] or, as Th says, causeth you to fear by his friends. (TA.) He diminished it, lessened it, or took from it; and so خوّف مِنْهُ. (TA.) [See also 5.] خوّف غَنَبَهُ He sent away his sheep, or goats, flock by flock. (TA.)

    خَاْوَفَ

    3: see 1, last sentence.

    اخافهُ

    4. اخافهُ, (Msb, K,) inf. n. إِخَافَةٌ (S) and إِخَافٌ, like كِتَابٌ, (Lh, TA,) [but the latter is irreg. and rare,] He, or it, (an affair, a case, or an event, Msb,) caused him, or made him, to fear, or be afraid; put him in fear; frightened, or terrified, him; (TA;) and خوّفهُ, (Msb, K,) inf. n. تَخْوِيفٌ, (S, TA,) signifies the same. (S, Msb, K.) So in the phrase اخاف الثَّغْرُ [The enemies' frontier caused to fear, &c.; was insecure:] or fear entered from it. (TA.) You say also, مَالَ الحَائِطُ فَأَخَافَ النَّاسَ [The wall leaned, and caused the people to fear]. (Msb.) And أَخَافَ اللُّصُوصُ الطَّرِيقَ [for أَخَافَ اللُّصُوصُ أَهْلَ الطَّرِيقِ The robbers caused the people of the road, or the passengers thereof, to fear, &c.; or it may be rendered the robbers caused the road to be insecure]. (Msb.) And أَخَفْتُهُ الأَمْرَ فَخَافَهُ [I caused him to fear the thing, or affair, &c., and he feared it; making the verb doubly trans.]; as also إِيَّاهُ فَتَخَوَّفَهُ خَوَّفْتُهُ. (Msb.) It is said in a trad., أَخِيفُوا الهَوَامَّ قَبْلَ أَنْ تُخِيفَكُمْ Make ye the venomous reptiles and the like to fear before they make you to fear; (TA;) i. e. kill ye them before they kill you. (JM, TA.) مَا أَخْوَفَنِى عَلَيْكَ [How greatly do I fear for thee!]. (TA.)

    تخوّفهُ

    5. تخوّفهُ: see 1, in three places. Also He took by little and little (S, L, K) from it, (S, K,) or from its sides; (L;) as also تحوّفهُ: (S and K * in arts. حوف and حيف:) or he took from its extremities; so in the A; in which it is said to be tropical: accord. to IF, it is originally [تخوّن,] with ن [in the place of the ف]. (TA.) Dhu-rRummeh says, (S,) or not he, but some other poet, for it is ascribed to several different authors, (L,) [Her saddle abraded from a long and high, compact hump, like as when the piece of skin used for smoothing arrows has abraded from the back of a rod of the tree called نبعة]. (S. [See also 5 in art. حوف, where another reading of this verse is given. In the TA, in the present art., in the places of الرحل and ظهر, I find السَّيْرُ and عُود.]) Hence, (S, K,) accord. to Fr, (TA,) أَوْيَأَخَذِهِمْ عَلَى تَخَوُّفٍ, (S, K,) in the Kur [xvi. 49], (S,) which Az explains as meaning [Or are they secure from his destroying them] by causing them to suffer loss [by little and little] in their bodies and their possessions, or cattle, and their fruits: or, accord. to Zj, it may mean, after causing them to fear, by destroying a town, so that the one next to it shall fear. (TA.) You say also, تخوّف مِنْ مَالِى He took by little and little from my property. (JK.) And تَخَوَّفَنَا السَّنَةُ [The year of drought, or sterility, took from us by little and little]. (JK.) And تَخَوّفَنِى حَقِّى [He diminished to me by little and little my right, or due]. (JK.) And تَخَوَّفَهُ حمْقُهُ (tropical:) i. q. اهْضَمَهُ [an evident mistranscription for اِهْتَضَمَهُ or هَضَمَهُ, meaning His stupidity deprived him of his right, or due]. (TA.)

    خَافٌ

    خَافٌ A man very fearful or timorous; (S, K;) [and so, in the present day, خَوَّافٌ; the former originally] of the measure فَعِلٌ, like فَرِقٌ and فَزِعٌ; and similar to صَاتٌ, meaning a man “ having a strong, or loud, voice: ” (S:) or i. q. خَائِفٌ: (TA:) accord. to Kh, it may be [originally خَاوِفٌ,] of the measure فَاعِلٌ, having the medial radical rejected; or [خَوْفٌ,] of the measure فَعْلٌ; and in either case, the dim. is [خُوَيْفٌ,] with و: so says Sb. (TA.)

    خَوْفٌ

    خَوْفٌ inf. n. of 1. (S, Msb, K, &c.) Also Slaughter: whence, وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَىْءٍ مِنَ ٱلْخَوْفِ [And we will assuredly try you with somewhat of slaughter]; (Lh, K;) in the Kur [ii. 150]. (TA.) [See also 4.] And Fighting: whence, فَإِذَا جَآءَ الخَوْفُ [But when fighting cometh; in the Kur xxxiii. 19]. (K.) See also خَائِفٌ. Also A red hide from which are cut strips like thongs, (Kr, K, TA,) and then upon these are put [ornaments of the kind termed] شَذْر; worn by a girl: (TA:) a dial. var. of حَوْفٌ [q. v.]: (K:) but this latter is preferable. (L, TA.)

    خِيفٌ

    خِيفٌ: see 1, first sentence.

    خَافَةٌ

    خَافَةٌ A [coat of the kind called] جُبَّة, of hide, or leather, which the collector of honey wears; (Akh, JK, K;) and also worn by the water-carrier: (JK:) or a fur-garment, or hide with the fur or wool on it, worn by him who enters into the places occupied by bees, in order that they may not sting him: (TA:) or a [pouch of the kind termed] خَرِيطَة, (S, K,) of hide, or leather, (S,) narrow in the upper part and wide in the lower part, (TA,) in which honey is collected: (S, K:) or a [round piece of leather with a running string by means of which it may be converted into a bag, such as is termed] سُفْرَة, like the خَرِيطَة, made, or sewed, small, [for مُصْعَدَةٌ or مُصَعَّدَةٌ, which I find in different copies of the K, and to which no appropriate meaning is assignable, I read مُصْغَرَةٌ or مُصَغَّرَةٌ, (see 2 in art. صغر, and particularly أَصْغَرَ القِرْبَةَ,)] having its head [or border] raised, for honey; (K;) so says Skr, in explaining the following verse: or, as IB says, accord. to Aboo-'Alee, it is from the phrase النَّاسُ أَخْيَافٌ, meaning “ men, ” or “ the people, ” “ are different, one from another; ” for it is a خَرِيطَة of hide, or leather, embellished with different kinds of embellishment; and if so it should be mentioned in art. خيف: (TA:) [but] the dim. is خُوَيْفَةٌ. (JK.) Aboo-Dhu-eyb says, [describing a collector of wild honey,] (S,) [He put beneath his armpit a خافة in which was a receptacle for honey, and betook himself to making successive endeavours to reach the most difficult part of a mountain by means of a rope, or rope of palm-fibres; for] he means شِيقًا بِمَسَدٍ; the phrase being inverted: (S and TA in art. شيق:) or he means, [betook himself to] taking successive holds of a rope (يَتَتَبَّعُ حَبْلًا) tied to a شيق [here best rendered mountain-top] in his descent to the place of the honey; so that there is no inversion. (TA in that art.) Also i. q. عَيْبَةٌ [A kind of basket, or receptacle, of hide, or leather]; (TA;) the thing in which fruits are gathered; also called مِخْرَفٌ. (Har p. 374.) And خَافَةُ الزَّرْعِ is said to mean The envelope of the grain of seed-produce; so called because it protects it: to this the believer is likened in a trad. [as some relate it]; but the reading [commonly known] is [خَامَة,] with م. (TA.) [See خامة, in art. خيم.]

    خِيفَةٌ

    خِيفَةٌ; pl. خِيفٌ: see 1, first sentence. [Sometimes it may mean, agreeably with analogy, A kind of fear.] See also art. خيف.

    خَوَافٌ

    خَوَافٌ Vociferation, clamour, or a confused noise, of a company of men. (JK, Sgh, K.)

    خُوَيْفٌ

    خُوَيْفٌ: see خَافٌ.

    Lane, Arabic-English Lexiconread Lane's entry online ↗

The same three letters in all six orders. Choose one.

خ و ف

الخاء والواو والفاء أصل واحد يدل على الذعر والفزع

kh-w-f is one root indicating terror and fright.

Ibn Fāris ↗Lisān ↗Lane ↗al-Khalīl: used ↗Quran ×124

an entry in Ibn Fārislater sources onlyin none of them

Do these six share one core meaning?

About thisal-Khalīl, Ibn Jinnī, Ibn Fāris; the counts across the dictionary

al-Khalīl (d. c. 170/786), Kitāb al-ʿAyn, as transmitted by al-Layth: a two-letter word “turns in two ways”, a three-letter word “in six ways” (masdūsa), four letters in 24, five in 120; “its used forms are written down and its unused ones dropped” (line 975 ↗). The dictionary is built on this: each chapter takes a set of letters and names which orders are used (mustaʿmal) and which unused (muhmal). The ring shows that verdict, from the chapter heading as edited (documented in the text; how much of the book is al-Khalīl's own is disputed).

A reported total. al-Suyūṭī transmits, from Ḥamza al-Iṣfahānī, that al-Khalīl put the possible forms, used and unused, of two to five letters at 12,305,412 (al-Muzhir, line 1347 ↗). It is reported, not found in the ʿAyn. It equals exactly the arrangements of 2 to 5 different letters out of 28 (756 + 19,656 + 491,400 + 11,793,600); the breakdown printed beside it is corrupt, and al-Zubaydī's count, given next, differs (6,659,400).

Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), al-Khaṣāʾiṣ, names the greater derivation (al-ishtiqāq al-akbar): bind a three-letter root and its six orders to one meaning, and bring stray members back “by the subtlety of the craft and interpretation” (line 7536 ↗). He says himself that it does not hold for every root (line 167 ↗; line 7603 ↗).

Ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004) gives each root its own aṣl and treats a rearranged word as maqlūb, “turned round”, and so not a root of its own: “j-b-dh is not a root, because it is a single word, turned round” (Maqāyīs, line 6147 ↗). The ring sets his aṣl for each order side by side; whether they meet is the question.

Neighbours on the ring differ by one swap of two letters.

The critique. A source quoted by al-Suyūṭī calls the greater derivation Ibn Jinnī's innovation, “not relied on in the language” (al-Muzhir, line 6159 ↗).

The other axis. The root's letters also go into patterns that keep their order and change the frame: the patterns (awzān) and the verb Forms I–X.

Across Ibn Fāris's dictionary. Of the 2,300 possible sets of three different sound letters (no hamza, w or y), 1,021 have at least one order as an entry. How many of their six orders are entries:

Ibn Fāris, entries found (1,021 letter-sets)
  1. 1 of 6319
  2. 2 of 6218
  3. 3 of 6164
  4. 4 of 6155
  5. 5 of 6107
  6. 6 of 658
al-Khalīl, orders his headings call used (746 letter-sets)
  1. 1 of 6148
  2. 2 of 6108
  3. 3 of 6157
  4. 4 of 6179
  5. 5 of 6111
  6. 6 of 643

Of the orders al-Khalīl calls used, 2,097 are entries in Ibn Fāris and 267 are not; 17 that he calls unused are entries in Ibn Fāris.

Our computation from the OpenITI texts; heading detection can miss entries

Attested here means found in our digital texts (Ibn Fāris, Lisān al-ʿArab, Lane, the Quranic Arabic Corpus), with w and y kept apart and hamza spellings merged; it is our data, not a classical verdict. English beside the Arabic is AI translation. Sources and grades: docs/research/root-permutations.md.

How each letter is made, in brief, from Sībawayh's and Ibn Jinnī's own sentences (linked); their words are under Reference.

Sharing two of its three letters (computed; kinship of form, not of meaning)

16 more
How it is madeSībawayh and Ibn Jinnī · phonetics

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

خ

وأدناها مخرجا من الفم: الغين والخاء

The nearest of them to the mouth in place: the ghayn and the khāʾ. Sībawayh, line 26549 ↗

ومما فوق ذلك مع أول الفم، مخرج الغين والخاء

From above that, at the start of the mouth, is the place of the ghayn and the khāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 971 ↗

و

ومما بين الشفتين مخرج الباء، والميم، والواو

From between the two lips is the place of the bāʾ, the mīm and the wāw. Sībawayh, line 26563 ↗

ومما بين الشفتين مخرج الباء والميم والواو

From between the two lips is the place of the bāʾ, the mīm and the wāw. Ibn Jinnī, line 986 ↗

ف

ومن باطن الشفة السفلى وأطراف الثنايا العلى مخرج الفاء

From the inside of the lower lip and the edges of the upper front teeth is the place of the fāʾ. Sībawayh, line 26562 ↗

ومن باطن الشفة السفلى وأطراف الثنايا العلى، مخرج الفاء

From the inside of the lower lip and the edges of the upper front teeth is the place of the fāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 985 ↗

Sībawayh, al-Kitāb (ed. Hārūn) and Ibn Jinnī, Sirr ṣināʿat al-iʿrāb; OpenITI digital texts (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Full credits on each letter's page.

In the Breath of the All-MercifulIbn ʿArabī · metaphysics

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

خ

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗

و

Level of existence: تعيين الرتب والمقامات والمنازل · the determination of ranks, stations and waystations

Divine Name: رفيع الدرجات · Rafīʿ al-Darajāt, Exalted in Degrees

Lunar mansion: الرشا · al-Rashāʾ

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62121

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗

المرتبة العشرية فحروفها حارة يابسة

The tenfold rank: its letters are hot and dry.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2582

ف

Level of existence: الملائكة · the angels

Divine Name: القوى · the Strong (al-Qawī)

Lunar mansion: سعد الأخبية · Saʿd al-Akhbiya

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 65823

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗

المرتبة العشرية فحروفها حارة يابسة

The tenfold rank: its letters are hot and dry.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2582
Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

خ

فهي طول إلى النهاية مع رقة.

It is length to the utmost, together with fineness/thinness.

فهي اسم لكمال في الحيوانات.

It is a name for a perfection in animals.

فهي اسم لكمال في الجمادات.

It is a name for a perfection in inanimate things.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī

و

فهي الأشياء المشتبكة في الإنسان مثل العروق والأصابع وما أشبه ذلك.

It is the intertwined things in the human being, such as veins, fingers and the like.

فهي الأشياء المباينة لبني آدم مثل الأفلاك والجبال وما أشبه ذلك

It is things distinct from the children of Adam, such as the celestial spheres, mountains and the like.

فهي الأشياء المشتبكة المستقذرة أو المبغوضة كالأمعاء ونحوها.

It is intertwined things that are filthy or detested, such as the intestines and the like.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī

ف

فهي لنفي الخبث بعد ما كان جنسه معلوما بالخبث، فهي إشارة إلى أنه طاهر وجنسه خبيث، والخبث مثل المعاصي وما أشبهها.

It is for negating foulness in something whose genus is known for foulness. It thus indicates that the thing is pure while its genus is foul; foulness being like sins and the like.

فهي لتزويل الخبث.

It is for removing foulness.

فهي إشارة إلى الذات وما احتوت عليه، وفي بعض الأحيان قد يكون معها التقليل.

It is an indication of the self and what it contains; at times it may carry a sense of diminution.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī
Two-letter nucleus14 roots in Ibn Fāris’s chapterخ و

Ibn Fāris groups his roots under two-letter chapters (“the X and the Y and what makes them three”). These are the roots of this root's chapter with the core sense he gives each. Setting them side by side is our juxtaposition; he does not himself draw a shared meaning. His chapter heading, line 9213 ↗

  • خوىالخاء والواو والياء أصل واحد يدل على الخلو والسقوطQ 5 · L9214
  • خوبالخاء والواو والباء أصيل يدل على خلو وشبههL9223
  • خوتالخاء والواو والتاء أصل واحد يدل على نفاذ ومرور بإقدامL9225
  • خوثالخاء والواو والثاء أصيل ليس بمطرد ولا يقاس عليه يقولون خوثت المرأة إذا عظم بطنها ويقال بل الخوثاء الناعمةL9238
  • خوخالخاء والواو والخاء ليس بشيء وفيه الخوخ وما أراه عربياL9242
  • خوذالخاء والواو والذال ليس أصلا يطرد ولا يقاس عليه وإنما فيه كلمة واحدة مختلف في تأويلهاL9246
  • خورالخاء والواو والراء أصلان أحدهما يدل على صوت والآخر على ضعفQ 2 · L9249
  • خوسالخاء والواو والسين أصل واحد يدل على فسادL9257
  • خوشالخاء والواو والشين أصل يدل على ضمر وشبهه فالمتخوش الضامر ولذلك تسمى الخاصرتان الخوشينL9261
  • خوصالخاء والواو والصاد أصل واحد يدل على قلة ودقة وضيقL9262
  • خوفالخاء والواو والفاء أصل واحد يدل على الذعر والفزعQ 124 · L9280
  • خوقالخاء والواو والقاف أصيل يدل على خلو الشيءL9284
  • خولالخاء والواو واللام أصل واحد يدل على تعهد الشيءQ 8 · L9286
  • خونالخاء والواو والنون أصل واحد وهو التنقصQ 16 · L9292
In the sister scriptsHebrew ח ו פSyriac ܚ ܘ ܦ
Arabicخ و ف
Hebrewח ו פ
Syriacܚ ܘ ܦ
Ancient South Arabian (musnad)𐩭 𐩥 𐩰
Phoenician𐤇 𐤅 𐤐

Letter for letter, by the regular sound correspondences of the Semitic languages (Arabic keeps several sounds the others merged). This shows how the root would be spelled; whether a related word exists is a separate question, answered in the Semitic lens. Where an Arabic sibilant (s, sh) continues two older sounds, both spellings are shown.

  • Classical lexiconAl-Khalīl (al-ʿAyn) treats khāfa primarily as a phonological problem — the wāw of yakhwafu becomes alif in yakhāfu by a regular process of dropping the letter while retaining the vowel-quality it conditions, and separately notes al-khāfa as a small vessel used by the honey-gatherer or water-carrier, unrelated in sense but sharing the root's letters.well attested

    The lexicographers in chronological order, from al-Khalīl to Lane.

    Al-Khalīl (al-ʿAyn) treats khāfa primarily as a phonological problem — the wāw of yakhwafu becomes alif in yakhāfu by a regular process of dropping the letter while retaining the vowel-quality it conditions, and separately notes al-khāfa as a small vessel used by the honey-gatherer or water-carrier, unrelated in sense but sharing the root's letters. Al-Jawharī (al-Ṣiḥāḥ) gives the plain paradigm: khāfa yakhāfu khawfan wa khīfatan wa makhāfatan, active participle khāʾif, with the archaic plural khuwwaf preserving the original wāw. Ibn Fāris (Maqāyīs) confirms the single sense of dhuʿr wa fazaʿ, adding khāwafanī fa-khiftuhu (he tried to out-frighten me and I proved more fearful than him), and treats takhawwaftu l-shayʾ (I diminished it) as a distinct, if phonetically similar, sense reached by substitution from a root meaning nuqṣān (diminution). Al-Rāghib (Mufradāt) defines khawf precisely as anticipation of a disliked event on the basis of a conjectured or known sign, the structural mirror of rajāʾ/ṭamaʿ (anticipation of a loved event), applicable to both worldly and otherworldly matters — his gloss on 4:3 and 4:35 reads khiftum as 'if you know/suppose'. Ibn Manẓūr (Lisān) and Lane both preserve and elaborate this whole picture, with Lane noting that some grammarians treat khawf, khīf, and khīfa as underlying substantives rather than pure maṣdars.

    Draws on: cayn · sihah · Ibn Fāris · mufradat · lisan · Lane

    • al-Khalīl, Kitāb al-ʿAyn, s.v. kh-w-f
    • al-Jawharī, al-Ṣiḥāḥ, s.v. kh-w-f
    • Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lugha, s.v. kh-w-f
    • al-Rāghib, al-Mufradāt, s.v. kh-w-f
    • Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, s.v. kh-w-f
    • Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon, s.v. kh-w-f
  • Letters & soundAl-Dabbāgh reads khāʾ as length carried to the utmost together with fineness/thinness, wāw as the intertwined things within the human being (veins, fingers, and the like), and fāʾ as a marker that negates foulness in a thing whose genus is known for foulness, indicating the thing's purity despite its foul kind.speculative

    What the theorists of sound symbolism would say of these letters. Speculative by nature.

    Al-Dabbāgh reads khāʾ as length carried to the utmost together with fineness/thinness, wāw as the intertwined things within the human being (veins, fingers, and the like), and fāʾ as a marker that negates foulness in a thing whose genus is known for foulness, indicating the thing's purity despite its foul kind. Read together and only as a suggestive sequence, this could be heard as: something drawn out thin and intertwined within the person (an inner tremor along the veins), yet marked as not itself base — consonant with khawf's classical sense of a legitimate, even praiseworthy, inner state rather than a vice. Ibn ʿArabī's letter-heaven correspondences give wāw the third heaven and fāʾ the angels, with no assignment given for khāʾ here. This remains speculative letter-symbolism, not a claim about historical semantic causation.

    Draws on: dabbagh_fatha · akbari198

    • al-Dabbāgh, letter-meanings (fatḥa series)
    • Ibn ʿArabī, letters and the seven heavens (Futūḥāt, correspondences)
  • Root structureIbn Fāris's kh-w chapter siblings cluster loosely around hollowness, weakness, and diminishment: khawiya (emptiness/collapse), khāba (a related failing-empty sense), khāra (weakness, opposed to a homonymous sense of sound), khāsa (corruption), and khāṣa (narrowness/thinness) — a neighborhood into which khawf's dhuʿr wa fazaʿ, read as an inner hollowing-out or collapse of resolve, would fit as a psychological extension of the physical cluster.uncertain

    The two-letter nucleus (Ibn Fāris's own chapters) and the permutations of the letters (Ibn Jinnī).

    Ibn Fāris's kh-w chapter siblings cluster loosely around hollowness, weakness, and diminishment: khawiya (emptiness/collapse), khāba (a related failing-empty sense), khāra (weakness, opposed to a homonymous sense of sound), khāsa (corruption), and khāṣa (narrowness/thinness) — a neighborhood into which khawf's dhuʿr wa fazaʿ, read as an inner hollowing-out or collapse of resolve, would fit as a psychological extension of the physical cluster. Among the six permutations, khawf itself dominates with 124 occurrences; wakhf (و-خ-ف) is attested with the sense of stirring/beating a mucilaginous plant in a basin to mix it, and khafw/khafā (خ-ف-و) is glossed as containing two mutually opposed senses. Ibn Jinnī's greater derivation would invite, only as a juxtaposition, a pairing of khawf (an agitation within the breast) with wakhf (an agitation by beating within a vessel) — both naming a churning brought about from outside the thing churned; this is not asserted as an actual derivational relation.

    Draws on: maqayis nucleus siblings · permutations table

  • Semitic kin & loanwordsNo confident cognate for kh-w-f in the sense of fear is established here in Hebrew, Aramaic/Syriac, Akkadian, Geʿez, or Old South Arabian;uncertain

    Cognates in the sister languages, and whether the word was borrowed.

    No confident cognate for kh-w-f in the sense of fear is established here in Hebrew, Aramaic/Syriac, Akkadian, Geʿez, or Old South Arabian; the standard Northwest Semitic terms for fear use different roots (Hebrew y-r-ʾ, p-ḥ-d). This is stated as a plain absence in the present data rather than a positive claim that Arabic khawf is an isolate within Semitic.

    Draws on: comparative Semitic survey

  • Quranic exegesisAl-Rāghib's technical distinction — khawf as anticipation of harm from a conjectured or known sign, set against khashya as fear compounded with knowledge and reverence — becomes the standard exegetical tool for distinguishing the many Qurʾānic occurrences of the root.well attested

    How the classical exegetes read the word in the Quran.

    Al-Rāghib's technical distinction — khawf as anticipation of harm from a conjectured or known sign, set against khashya as fear compounded with knowledge and reverence — becomes the standard exegetical tool for distinguishing the many Qurʾānic occurrences of the root. On falā khawfun ʿalayhim wa lā hum yaḥzanūn (2:38 and its repetitions), al-Ṭabarī glosses the negation as covering both what is feared in the future and what is grieved over from the past, marking a state of security proper to the rightly guided. On fa-man khāfa min mūṣin janafan (2:182) and illā an yakhāfā allā yuqīmā ḥudūd Allāh (2:229), al-Zamakhsharī and al-Rāzī both read khāfa as a legal ẓann — a well-grounded supposition falling short of certainty — which is precisely why it can license an heir's mediation in a will or the wife's initiative in khulʿ. In verses pairing khawf with rajāʾ (32:16) or with raḥma (17:57), al-Rāzī treats the pairing as constitutive of a balanced servanthood, warning against either extreme of despair (qunūṭ) or false security (amn), a reading that feeds directly into later Sufi treatments of khawf and rajāʾ as complementary maqāmāt.

    Draws on: 2:38 · 2:182 · 2:229 · 4:3 · 17:57 · 32:16

  • Philosophy & kalāmKhawf is less a term of falsafa proper than of kalām psychology and Sufi ethics, but it does carry technical weight there: in debates over the status of the grave sinner, the Murjiʾa's stress on rajāʾ (hope in God's mercy) is set against Muʿtazilī and Khārijite emphasis on the threat (waʿīd), with khawf functioning as the affective correlate of taking the waʿīd seriously.plausible

    The word as a technical term in falsafa and theology.

    Khawf is less a term of falsafa proper than of kalām psychology and Sufi ethics, but it does carry technical weight there: in debates over the status of the grave sinner, the Murjiʾa's stress on rajāʾ (hope in God's mercy) is set against Muʿtazilī and Khārijite emphasis on the threat (waʿīd), with khawf functioning as the affective correlate of taking the waʿīd seriously. Al-Ghazālī, in the Iḥyāʾ, treats khawf as an epistemic-affective state produced by knowledge (maʿrifa) of God's power and of one's own shortcomings, and ranks it as a station (maqām) whose completion is properly balanced by rajāʾ, following al-Rāghib's structural pairing of the two. It thus functions in post-classical kalām/taṣawwuf as a term describing the soul's calibrated response to the possibility of divine chastisement, rather than a purely emotional or purely legal category.

    Draws on: kalam debates on iman and threat · Ghazali Ihya

    • al-Ghazālī, Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn, Kitāb al-Khawf wa-l-Rajāʾ
  • Akbarian readingNo separate Iṣṭilāḥ entry for khawf is given in the terminology excerpts, but in Faṣṣ Ādam Ibn ʿArabī ties the term directly to the two divine descriptions of riḍā and ghaḍab (contentment and wrath): God 'made the cosmos possessed of khawf and rajāʾ' precisely so that it would fear His wrath and hope for His good pleasure, and this pairing is presented as flowing from God's prior self-description as both jamīl (beautiful) and dhū jalāl (possessor of majesty).plausible

    The word in Ibn ʿArabī's text and terminology.

    No separate Iṣṭilāḥ entry for khawf is given in the terminology excerpts, but in Faṣṣ Ādam Ibn ʿArabī ties the term directly to the two divine descriptions of riḍā and ghaḍab (contentment and wrath): God 'made the cosmos possessed of khawf and rajāʾ' precisely so that it would fear His wrath and hope for His good pleasure, and this pairing is presented as flowing from God's prior self-description as both jamīl (beautiful) and dhū jalāl (possessor of majesty). Khawf here is thus cosmologically grounded — not merely a creaturely emotion but the necessary correlate, within engendered existence, of the divine attribute of jalāl, just as rajāʾ correlates with jamāl.

    Draws on: inFassAdam

    • Ibn ʿArabī, Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam, Faṣṣ Ādam
Neighbouring rootsThe roots that share letters with this one, as a map you can open out