ز ع ن ف

Root entry · 4 derived lemmas

This root primarily denotes shortness, smallness, or being a fragment. It extends to concepts of insignificance, baseness, or a detached piece. It can also refer to something that moves or is agitated, and by extension, a cunning or disastrous event.

Derived headwords

الزَّعْنَفَةnoun

1.
short personboth
A short man or woman.
2.
short thingclassical
Anything that is short.
3.
fragmentboth
A portion or piece of something, like the edge of leather or a piece of cloth.
4.
base personclassical
A base, ignoble, or supporting person, by analogy with the extremities of an animal.
5.
detached groupclassical
A small, detached group or tribe that separates itself or joins another.
6.
torn clothclassical
The torn lower part of a garment, like a shirt.
7.
calamityclassical
A disaster or a cunningly devised plan, possibly derived from the meaning of shortness.
8.
fish finclassical
The fins of a fish.

زَعْنَفَverb

1.
to adorn a brideclassical
To adorn or beautify a bride, similar to 'zahna'a'.

زَعانِفnoun

1.
fish finsclassical
The fins of a fish.
2.
base peopleclassical
Base or ignoble people, by analogy with the fins of a fish.
3.
torn garment partsclassical
The torn parts of the lower sections of shirts.
4.
scattered groupsclassical
A group of people not of common origin, or a scattered group.
5.
vile womenclassical
Base or ignoble women.

زَعانِيفnoun

1.
scattered groupsclassical
A plural form for scattered groups of people who have separated from the main community.

Parallel reading

الزعنفة، بالكسر، والفتح: القصير، والقصيرة

Al-za'nafah, with kasra and fath: the short man, and the short woman.

وفي المحكم: وكل شيء قصير: زعنفة

And in Al-Muḥkam: Everything short is a za'nafah.

الزعنفة: طرف الأديم، كاليدين، والرجلين

Al-za'nafah: the edge of leather, like hands and feet.

وأصل الزعانف أطراف الأديم وأكارعه

And the origin of al-za'anif is the edges of leather and its extremities.

فما زال يفري البيد حتى كأنما ... قوائمه في جانبيه الزعانف

He kept traversing the desert until his legs were as if they were al-za'anif on his sides.

زعانف الأديم: أطرافه التي تشد فيهاالأوتاد، إذا مد في الدباغ

Al-za'anif of leather: its edges where the pegs are tied when it is stretched for tanning.

الزعنفة من كل شيء: الرذل الردء، على التشبيه بالأكارع

Al-za'nafah of everything: the base supporter, by analogy with the extremities.

الزعنفة: القطعة من القبيلة، تشذ وتنفرد

Al-za'nafah: a piece of a tribe that breaks away and becomes isolated.

أو هي القبيلة القليلة، تنضم إلى غيرها من الأحياء الكثيرة

Or it is a small tribe that joins other larger tribes.

الزعنفة: القطعة من الثوب، أو أسفله المتخرق

Al-za'nafah: a piece of cloth, or its torn lower part.

هو ما تخرق من أسفل القميص، يشبه به زذال الناس

It is what is torn from the bottom of a shirt, by which the base people are likened.

الزعنفة: الداهية، كأنه مأخوذ من معنى القصر

Al-za'nafah: the calamity, as if derived from the meaning of shortness.

أي جمع الكل: زعانف وهي أي: الزعانف: أجنحة السمك

The plural of all of them is za'anif, and they are: al-za'anif: the fins of a fish.

وبها شبهت الأدعياء، لأنهم التصقوا بالصميم، كما التصقت تلك الأجنحة بعظم السمك

And by them, the pretenders were likened, because they clung to the core, just as those fins clung to the fish's bone.

كل جماعة ليس أصلهم واحدا زعانف، بمنزلة زعانف الأديم

Every group whose origin is not one is za'anif, like the edges of leather.

وهي نواحيه حيث تشد فيه الأوتاد إذا مد في الدباغ

And they are its sides where the pegs are tied when it is stretched for tanning.

ما تخرق من أسافل القميص

What is torn from the lower parts of a shirt.

وزعنف العروس: زينها، كزهنعها

And za'nafa the bride: he adorned her, like zahna'aha.

الزعانف: النسوة الخسائس

Al-za'anif: the base women.

لم تنله الزعانف

The base women did not reach him.

إياكم وهذه الزعانيف الذين رغبوا عن الناس، وفارقوا الجماعة

Beware of these al-za'anif who have turned away from people and separated from the community.