أسْفَى

Full Definition

أسْفَى applied to a horse, Light, thin, or scanty, in the hair of the forelock: or short and scanty therein: fem. سَفْوَآءُ: [and accord. to some, it seems to be in like manner applied to a mule and an ass: (see سَفًا:)] one says فَرَسٌ أَسْفَى and بَغْلَةٌ سَفْوَآءُ: [or,] accord. to As, أَسْفَى in the sense first expl. above is not applied to anything but a horse: applied to a mule, it means quick, or swift: or بَغْلَةٌ سَفْوَآءُ signifies a she-mule that is quick, or swift, like the wind, active, or light, of middling make, compact and strong in the back; and in like manner سَفْوَآءُ is applied to a wild she-ass.
2 Accord. to IAar, الأَسْفَى applied to the horse signifies اَلَّذِي تَنْزِعُهُ شَعَرَةٌ بَيْضَآءُ [app. meaning Distinguished by some white hairs, though I find no authority for thus rendering the verb here used] whether he be bay or of some other colour: or having that whiteness of the hair which is termed سَفًا [expl. above], which is particularly said by him in one place to be in such as is termed أَدْهَم, and such as is أَشْقَر: and the fem. in this sense also is as above.
3 One says also رِيحٌ هَوْجَآءُ, meaning A swift wind; like as one says مُسْفٍ.

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Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

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