رف

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See also: رق

Arabic

Etymology 1

Disputed etymology:

  • Natively from the root ر ف ف (r-f-f) in the sense of an outstretched wing being symbolic of protection, a coverlet; hence originally an awning or covering; semantically becoming a story or tier of a building as each window would feature such a cloth shelf above it. Parallel semantic conception found with Hebrew רפפות (window shutters; a collection of layered thin strips) and Western Neo-Aramaic ܪܦ (rap, level, story; room, chamber).
  • Natively from the root ر ف ف (r-f-f) in the sense of stretching elbows out on a pillow or cushion, stemming from an outstretched wing; hence a place to place things, a place to spread things out on.
  • From Aramaic found in its descendant Western Neo-Aramaic ܪܦ (rap, level, story; room, chamber) of uncertain etymology, but considered likely foreign or possibly even borrowed from Arabic; as for a foreign source possibly connected to Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ-.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /raff/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

رَفّ (raffm (plural رُفُوف (rufūf) or أَرْفُف (ʔarfuf) or رِفَاف (rifāf))

  1. sill; shelf; whatnot
    • p. 2000, كَرِيم مَعْتُوق (karīm maʕtūq):
      مَا مَرَّ شَذَاهَا بِخُطُوطِ الْوَرَقِ الْمُلْقَى عَلَى الْأَرْفُفِ
      mā marra šaḏāhā biḵuṭūṭi l-waraqi l-mulqā ʕalā l-ʔarfufi
      Her scent has not yet passed from the lines of the papers deposed on the shelves.
Declension
Descendants
  • Azerbaijani: rəf
  • Catalan: ràfec (eaves)
  • Persian: رف (raf)
  • Ottoman Turkish: راف (raf)
  • Swahili: rafu

Etymology 2

Root
ر ف ف (r f f)
1 term

Verb

رَفَّ (raffa) I (non-past يَرِفُّ (yariffu), verbal noun رَفّ (raff) or رَفِيف (rafīf))

  1. to gleam
Conjugation

Verb

رَفَّ (raffa) I (non-past يَرُفُّ (yaruffu) or يَرِفُّ (yariffu), verbal noun رَفّ (raff))

  1. to tremble, to flutter, to twitch
  2. to flicker, to glint
Conjugation

Verb

رَفَّ (raffa) I (non-past يَرُفُّ (yaruffu) or يَرِفُّ (yariffu), verbal noun رُفُوف (rufūf) or رَفِيف (rafīf))

  1. to serve diligently (لِ (li) someone)
Conjugation

Noun

رَفّ (raffm

  1. verbal noun of رَفَّ (raffa) (form I)
Declension

References

  • Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 13
  • Freytag, Georg (1833) “رف”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum (in Latin), volume 2, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 170
  • Kazimirski, Albin de Biberstein (1860) “رف”, in Dictionnaire arabe-français contenant toutes les racines de la langue arabe, leurs dérivés, tant dans l’idiome vulgaire que dans l’idiome littéral, ainsi que les dialectes d’Alger et de Maroc (in French), volume 1, Paris: Maisonneuve et Cie, page 892
  • Lane, Edward William (1863) “رف”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, pages 1115–1116
  • Wehr, Hans (1979) “رف”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 403
  • Wehr, Hans with Kropfitsch, Lorenz (1985) “رف”, in Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart (in German), 5th edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, published 2011, →ISBN, page 483

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic رَفّ (raff).

Pronunciation

Readings
Classical reading? raf
Dari reading? raf
Iranian reading? raf
Tajik reading? raf

Noun

رف (raf)

  1. shelf, ledge, rack