ك ر ف

Root entry · 15 derived lemmas

This root primarily concerns the act of smelling, particularly the sniffing of urine or other scents, often by animals like donkeys. It extends to related concepts like recognizing scents, spoiled eggs, and formations of clouds.

Derived headwords

كَرَفَverb

1.
to sniff urineclassical
To sniff the urine of a female donkey (atan) or other animals, or their dung, often as a prelude to mating.
2.
to sniffclassical
To sniff anything; the act of smelling or investigating by scent.

يَكْرُفُverb

1.
to sniff urine (present tense)classical
The present tense form of the verb 'karifa', referring to the act of sniffing urine, with a variant pronunciation.

كَرِفَverb

1.
to sniff urine (present tense)classical
The present tense form of the verb 'karifa', referring to the act of sniffing urine, with a variant pronunciation.

كَرفاًnoun

1.
sniffingclassical
The act of sniffing, specifically the sniffing of urine.

كِرَافاًnoun

1.
sniffingclassical
The act of sniffing, specifically the sniffing of urine.

أَكْرَفَverb

1.
to sniffclassical
To sniff, to smell; used in relation to smelling urine or other scents.
2.
to spoil (an egg)classical
To spoil or become rotten, specifically used for an egg.

مِكْرَافadjective

1.
habitually sniffing urineclassical
A donkey that habitually sniffs urine, accustomed to it.

مِكْرَافَةadjective

1.
habitually sniffing urineclassical
A donkey that habitually sniffs urine, accustomed to it.

الكِرَافnoun

1.
sniffingclassical
The act of sniffing.
2.
a pimpclassical
One who steals glances at women; a pimp.
3.
a gathering of prostitutesclassical
A gathering or collection of prostitutes.

كُرُوفadjective

1.
habitually sniffing urineclassical
A donkey that habitually sniffs urine, accustomed to it.

الكُرْفnoun

1.
a leather bucketclassical
A bucket made entirely of leather.

كِرْفَتَيْنnoun

1.
two leather bucketsclassical
The dual form of 'kurf', referring to two leather buckets.

الكَرْفَاءadjective

1.
sniffingclassical
Describing a donkey that sniffs urine.

الكَرْفَئُnoun

1.
small cloudsclassical
Small, accumulated pieces of cloud.
2.
egg shellclassical
The hard, upper shell of an egg, also called 'qaydh'.

تَكَرفَأَverb

1.
to pile upclassical
To pile up or accumulate, used for clouds.

Parallel reading

كرف الحمار وغيره كالبرذون، قال ابن دريد والليث: يكرف بالضم، ويكرف بالكسر، لغتان، كرفا وكرافا، شم بول الأتان أو روثه أو غيرهما.

The donkey and other animals like the mule sniff, and according to Ibn Duraid and Al-Laith: 'yakruf' (with damma) and 'yakrif' (with kasra) are two linguistic variants, meaning 'kurafan' and 'kurafan', to sniff the urine of the female donkey, or its dung, or other things.

ثم رفع رأسه إلى السماء وقلب جحفلته وكذلك الفحل: إذا شم طروقته، ثم رفع رأسه نحو السماء، وكشر حتى تقلص شفتاه ولا يقال في الحمار شفته، ووهم الجوهري وأنشد ابن بري للأغلب العجلي:

Then he raised his head to the sky and turned his muzzle, and likewise the stallion: when he smells his mate, he raises his head towards the sky, and bares his teeth until his lips retract, and one does not say 'his lip' for a donkey. Al-Jawhari was mistaken, and Ibn al-Bari quoted Al-Aghlab al-Ajali:

تخاله من كرفهن كالحا وافتر صابا ونشوقا مالحا كأكرف وهذه عن الزجاج.

You would think him, from his sniffing them, to be thirsty, and he tasted brine and salty dew, like one who has sniffed extensively. This is from Al-Zajjaj.

وربما يقال: كرفها ظاهر سياقه يقتضي أنه بالتخفيف، والصواب: كرفها بالتشديد، أي: تشمم بولها.

And it might be said: 'karifaha' (with lightened 'fa'), its apparent context suggests it is with lightened 'fa', but the correct pronunciation is 'karrafaha' (with stressed 'fa'), meaning: to sniff her urine.

وحمار مكراف: معتاده أي: يشم الأبوال، قاله ابن دريد.

And a 'mikraf' donkey: is one accustomed to it, meaning: it sniffs urine, said Ibn Duraid.

قال: وكل ما شممته فقد كرفنه.

He said: And whatever you sniff, you have 'karraftahu'.

وقال ابن عباد: أكرفت البيضة: أفسدت.

And Ibn Abbad said: 'Akrafta al-baydah': meaning it became spoiled.

وأما الكرفئ فإنها قطع من السحاب متراكمة صغار، واحدته كرفئة، وهي الكرثئ أيضا، بالمثلثة، وذكره الجوهري في الهمز وهما.

As for 'al-kurfa'' (with fa), they are small, accumulated pieces of cloud. Its singular is 'kurfa'' (with fa), and it is also 'al-kurth'' (with tha), and Al-Jawhari mentioned it in the section on hamza, considering it a mistake.

والكرفئ ذكر في تركيب كرفأ لاختلاف الناس في أضالة الهمز وزيادته، قال شيخنا: وقد تبعه المصنف هناك بلا تنبيه عليه، فوافقه في هذا الوهم، على أنه في الحقيقة لا يعد وهما، إذ عده كثير من أئمة التصريف رباعيا، وحكموا بأصالة الهمزة، وقالوا: مثل هذا ليس من مواضع الزيادة، فاعرفه.

And 'al-kurfa'' is mentioned under the root 'krfa' due to people's disagreement on the originality and addition of the hamza. Our Sheikh said: The author followed him there without noting it, thus agreeing with him in this perceived error. However, it is not truly an error, as many masters of morphology considered it a quadriliteral root, deeming the hamza original, and said: such cases are not places for added letters, so be aware of it.

الكراف: الشم.

Al-Kiraf: The sniffing.

وحمار كراف، وكروف.

And a sniffing donkey, and a sniffing donkey.

والكراف: مجمش القحاب، وقال ابن خالويه: الكراف: هو الذي يسرق النظر إلى النساء.

And 'al-kiraf': a gathering of prostitutes. And Ibn Khalaweh said: 'Al-kiraf': is one who steals glances at women.

والكرف، بالكسر: الدلو من جلد واحد كما هو، أنشد يعقوب:

And 'al-kurf' (with kasra): is a bucket made of a single piece of leather, as it is. Ya'qub recited:

أكل يوم لك ضيزنان على إزاء الحوض ملهزان بكرفتين تتواهقان تتواهقان: أي تتباريان.

Every day you have two burdens near the basin, two bellows with two leather buckets, competing, competing: meaning, vying with each other.

وتكرفأ السحاب: تراكب.

And 'takurfa'a al-sahab': meaning the clouds piled up.

والكرفئ: قشر البيض الأعلى اليابس الذي يقال له: القيض، وقد ذكرا في باب الهمز، فراجعه.

And 'al-kurfa'': is the hard upper shell of the egg, which is called 'al-qaydh'. Both have been mentioned in the section on hamza, so refer back to it.