حرف
العربية
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
حرف¹
- /ħa.ra.fa/
Where it comes from
Cognate to Aramaic חָרַף (ḥarap, “to scrape, sharpen, to grind”), Classical Syriac ܚܪܰܦ (ḥrap̄, “to blend, to scrape together”), Classical Syriac ܚܰܪܦܐ (ḥarp̄a, “blade, sword”), Ge'ez ሐረፈ (ḥäräfä, “to crush, to grind, to tear off the top”).
verb حَرَفَ · ḥarafa · يَحْرِفُ · حَرْف · حَارِف
- to turn to the opposite side
- to trade, to do business
- to trim, to snip
حرف²
- /ħar.ra.fa/
verb حَرَّفَ · ḥarrafa · يُحَرِّفُ · تَحْرِيف · مُحَرِّف
- to slant, to incline
- to bend down, up, or back, to turn down, up, or back
- to deflect
- to distort, to corrupt, to falsify, to misconstrue, to pervert, to twist فَمَا جَاءُوا بِهِ عَلَى وَجْهِهِ فَهُوَ حَقٌّ وَلَكِنَّهُمْ يُحَرِّفُونَ وَيَزِيدُونَ
حرف³
- /ħarf/
noun حَرْف · ḥarf · حِرَف · الْحَرْف
- cutting edge, sharp edge
- border, brink, edge, rim
adjective حَرْف · ḥarf · الْحَرْف
- hardy, strong and/or lean and/or swift وَشِمِلَّةٍ حَرْفٍ كَأَنَّ قُتُودَهَا … جَلَّلْتُهَا (var. لَبَسْتُهَا) جَوْنَ السَّرَاةِ خَفَيْدَدًا
حرف⁴
- /ħarf/
Where it comes from
Verbal noun of the verb above, the result of turning the tongue or stylus or limb to the side. The meaning “word” is a semantic loan from Medieval Latin terminus, spawned in the environment of philosophy text translation (see Praetorius 1909).
noun حَرْف · ḥarf · حُرُوف · أَحْرُف · الْحَرْف
- verbal noun of حَرَفَ (ḥarafa) (form I)
- letter (of the alphabet), piece of type حَرْفًا بِحَرْفٍ
- consonant
- particle
- word
حرف⁵
- /ħi.raf/
Where it comes from
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
noun حِرَف · ḥiraf
- plural of حِرْفَة (ḥirfa) and حَرْف (ḥarf)
حرف⁶
- /ħurf/
Where it comes from
An Aramaic borrowing, Aramaic חורפה / חורפא / ࡇࡅࡓࡐࡀ (ẖurpa) / ܚܘܪܦܐ (ḥurpā, “sharp edge”) corresponds to the Arabic حَرْف (ḥarf, “sharp edge”) and acquired the transferred meanings of “pungency” and “pungent” food, which applies to cress because of its marked mustardy or radish-like, slightly pungent to peppery taste and smell, compare also the adjective likely borrowed from Aramaic into Arabic حِرِّيف (ḥirrīf, “pungent”); perhaps also merged Akkadian 𒄷𒌨𒁍 (ḫurpu, “crop collected early, unripe produce”), hence the meaning of bitter or unpleasant tasting plants, rather related to the root خ ر ف (ḵ r f).
noun حُرْف · ḥurf · الْحُرْف · حُرْفٌ
- cress (Lepidium sativum, a garden vegetable)
- bitter-cress (Cardamine, some of which are eatable, some of medicinal use)
- water-cress (Nasturtium officinale, eatable and of medicinal use) قال ديسقويدس أجود ما رأينا من شجرة الحرف ما يكون بأرض بابل، وقوته شبيهة بقوة الخردل وبزر الفجل، وقيل الخردل وبزر الجرجير المجتمعين، وورقه ينقص في أفعاله عنه لرطوبته فإذا يبس قارب مشاكلته وكاد يلحقه. […] الأفعال والخواص: مسخن محلل منضج مع تليين ينشف قيح الجرب.
In English
Talk about this word "حرف." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%81. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. حرف. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%81 "حرف." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%81.Cite this
@misc{micwyn_2026,
title = {حرف},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%81},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
