أَنْفٌ

Full Definition

أَنْفٌ a word of well-known meaning; The nose; syn. مَعْطِسٌ; the aggregate composed of the two nostrils and the septum and the [bone called] قَصَبَة, which is the hard part of the انف; i. q. مَنْخِرٌ [which is evidently an explanation by a synecdoche, as this word properly signifies nostril]: it pertains to man and to others: أُنْفٌ is a dial. var. of the same; and so is إِنْفٌ , which is a form used by the vulgar peculiarly: the pl. [of pauc.] is آنُفٌ and آنَافٌ and [of mult.] أُنُوفٌ. The dual is applied to The two nostrils; as in the saying of Muzáhim El-'Okeylee, يَسُوفُ بِأَنْفِيْهِ النِّقَاعَ [He scents with his two nostrils the dust]. You say also, هُوَ يَتَتَبَّعُ أَنْفَهُ He scents, or sniffs, the odour, and follows it. (T, [in which, however, I find يَتْبَعُ in the place of يتتبّع] O, L, K, TA.) And, of a she-camel, تَرْأَمُ بِأَنْفِهِا [She makes a show of affection with her nose, by smelling her young one; not having true love]. (S, M, K, voce مُذَائِرٌ; &c.: see also مُعَارِضٌ.) And مَاتَ حَتْفَ أَنْفِهِ (S, K, &c., in art. حتف,) and حتف أَنْفِيْهِ, He died [a natural death,] on his bed, without being slain or beaten or drowned or burned. (K. [See art. حتف]) And حَمِىَ أَنْفُهُ He became vehemently angry, or enraged; as also وَرِمَ أَنْفُهُ. (IAth. [See also art. حمي]) And رَجُلٌ حَمِىُّ الأَنْفِ A disdainful, or scornful, man; who disdains, or scorns, being injured. (T, K, TA. [See, again, art. حمي.]) And سَمِىُّ الأَنْفِ [lit. Highnosed, signifies the same;] i. q. أَنْفَانُ. And أَنْفٌ فِي السَّمَآءِ وَٱسْتٌ فِى المَآءِ [A nose in the sky and a rump in the water]; a prov., applied to him who magnifies himself in words and is little in actions. And حَعَلَ أَنْفَهُ فِى قَفَاهُ [lit. He put his nose in the back of his neck]; meaning he turned away from the truth, or what was right, and betook himself to what was false, or vain: expressing the utmost degree of turning away, or turning the head, from a thing. And أَضَاعَ مَطْلَبَ أَنْفِهِ, and مُوْضِعَ أَنْفِهِ, [He neglected, or left unprotected,] the womb from which he had come forth: or the فَرْج of his mother. And هُوَ الفَحْلُ لَا يُقْرَعُ أَنْفُهُ, and لَا يُقْدَعُ, He is the speaker, or orator, who is not to be rebutted. الأَسدِ أَنْفُ [The nose of the lion] is the asterism called النَّثْرَةُ, q. v.
2 [A prominent part of anything, as being likened to a nose;] the extremity of anything. [Thus,] أَنْفُ جَبَلٍ A prominence, or projecting part, of a mountain. أَنْفُ النَّابِ, in [some of] the copies of the K erroneously, البَابِ, The extremity, or edge, of the canine tooth, or tush, when it comes forth. أَنْفُ خُفِّ البَعِيرِ The extremity of the مَنْسِم [i. e. toe, or each of the two nails of the foot,] of the camel. أَنْفُ اللِّحْيَةِ The fore part, or side, of the beard. أَنْفُ النَّعْلِ The toe, or foremost extremity, of the sandal [also called its أَسَلَة and its ذُنَابَة]. أَنْفَا القَوْسِ The two extremities which are in the inner sides of the two curved ends of the bow.
3 The first, or first part, of anything; relating also to times; as also مُسْتَأْنَفٌ Thus, أَنْفُ المَرْعَى The first of the herbage, or pasture. أَنْفُ المَطَرِ The first vegetation produced by the rain. جَآءَ فِى أَنْفِ الخَيْلِ [He came among the first of the horses, or horsemen]. سَارَ فِى أَنْفِ النَّهَارِ [He journeyed in the first part of the day]. هٰذَا أَنْفُ عَمَلِ فُلَانٍ This is the first of the things which such a one has begun to do. أَنْفُ الشَّدِّ, and العَدْوِ, The first of the run, or running: the most vehement thereof. أَنْفُ البَرْدِ The first of the cold: the most vehement thereof; so says Yaákoob.
4 A lord, or chief. You say, هُوَ أَنْفُ قَوْمِهِ He is the lord, or chief, of his people.
5 A piece broken off of a cake of bread.
6 A part of ground, or land, that is hard, and lying open, exposed to the sun.

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