حَافرٌ

Full Definition

حَافرٌ , [Digging: a digger.
2 And hence,] The حافر of a beast, (دَابَّة, S, K,) i. e., of a horse, or mule, or ass; [namely, the hoof; a solid hoof;] as though it dug the ground by reason of the vehemence of its tread upon it; a subst., like كَاهِلٌ and غَارِبٌ: pl. حَوَافِرُ.
3 [Hence, by a synecdoche,] خُفٌّ وَحَافِرٌ Camels and horses. (Mgh in art. خف.)
4 حَافِرٌ is also applied to The foot of a man, when it is meant to be characterized as ugly.
5 النَّقْدُ عِنْدَ , and الحَافِرِ, is a prov., meaning, The payment in ready money is on the occasion of the first sentence spoken by the seller, when he says “ I have sold to thee ” [such a thing]. The origin of the saying was this: horses were the most excellent and precious of the things that they possessed; and they used not to sell them on credit: a man used to say the words above to another; meaning that its hoof should not remove until he received its price: and he who says عند الحافرة (since he makes الحافر to mean the beast, الدَّابَّة, itself, and since its use in this sense is frequent without the mention of ذَات [prefixed to it],) subjoins to it the sign [ة] of the fem. gender to show that ذَاتِ الحَافِرِ is meant by this name. Or they used to say this on the occasion of racing and betting: and the meaning is, when the horse's hoof first falls upon the dug ground [at the goal]: حَافِرَةٌ , or حَافِرٌ, signifying dug ground; ground that is dug by a horse's feet; like as one says مَآءٌ دَافِقٌ, meaning مَدْفُوقٌ. Lth says that the saying means, when thou buyest it, thou dost not quit thy place until thou payest ready money. This was its origin: then it came to be so often said as to be used with reference to any priority.
6 [Thus,] حَافِرَةٌ signifies The original state or constitution of a thing; that wherein it was created: and the returning in a thing, so that the end thereof is brought back to its beginning. It is said in the Kur [lxxix. 10], لَمَرْدُودُونَ فِى أَئِنَّا, i. e., Shall we indeed be restored to our first state? i. e., to life? or to the present world, as we were: or to our first creation, after our death. IAar cites the following verse: عَلَى صَلَعٍ وَشَيْبٍ أَحَافِرَةً مَعَاذَ ٱللّٰهِ مِنْ سَفِهٍ وَعَارِ meaning Shall I return to my first state, wherein I was in my youth, when I indulged in amatory conversation, and silly and youthful conduct, after hoariness, and baldness of the fore part of my head? [I beg God to preserve me from lightwittedness and shameful conduct.] One says also, رَجَعَ إِلَى , and حَافِرِهِ, He became old and decrepit: [as though he returned to his first state; or became in a state of second childishness.] And اِلْتَقَوْا فَٱقْتَتَلُوا عِنْدَ and الحَافِرِ They met, and fought one another at the first of their meeting. And فَعَلَ كَذَا عِنْدَ and الحَافِرِ He did so at the first, without delay. And رَجَعَ عَلَى He returned by the way by which he had come: or by which he had come forth.

Lane's Lexicon — The most scholarly Arabic-English dictionary available

The product of over thirty years of unrelenting labor. A work of such unique greatness that to this day it remains supreme in the field of Arabic lexicography.

✓ Full text search • ✓ Root-based navigation
✓ Advanced filters • ✓ Mobile access

Go to LanesLexicon

Trusted by 1000+ researchers worldwide
Featured on Fons Vitae • Used by universities globally

Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

Full Definition

Related Words from the Same Root

Verbs

Nouns