زلف

See also: زلق

Arabic

Etymology 1

From the root ز ل ف (z-l-f), a variant of the better-known س ل ف (s-l-f).

Verb

زَلَفَ • (zalafa) I, non-past يَزْلُفُ‎ (yazlufu) (archaic)

  1. to get close, to near, to advance
    • 7th century CE, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Buḵāriyy, 2:34:
      إِذَا أَسْلَمَ الْعَبْدُ فَحَسُنَ إِسْلَامُهُ يُكَفِّرُ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ كُلَّ سَيِّئَةٍ كَانَ زَلَفَهَا
      ʔiḏā ʔaslama l-ʕabdu faḥasuna ʔislāmuhu yukaffiru llāhu ʕanhu kulla sayyiʔatin kāna zalafahā
      I someone becomes muslim sincerely then Allah remits all [sins] that he has come near.
Conjugation

Verb

زَلَّفَ • (zallafa) II, non-past يُزَلِّفُ‎ (yuzallifu) (archaic)

  1. to do it before, to execute earlier
  2. to exaggerate, to fudge
Conjugation

Noun

زَلْف • (zalf) m (archaic)

  1. verbal noun of زَلَفَ (zalafa) (form I)
Declension

Noun

زَلَف • (zalaf) m (archaic)

  1. verbal noun of زَلَفَ (zalafa) (form I)
  2. grovelling, flattery by coming close in a respect
Declension

Noun

زُلَف • (zulaf) pl (archaic)

  1. plural of زُلْفَة (zulfa)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Classical Syriac ܙܠܦܐ (zalpā, zelpā), singulative ܙܠܦܬܐ (zlap̄ṯă, zelpǝṯā, shard; mother of pearl).

Noun

زَلَف or زِلْف • (zalaf or zilf) m (collective, singulative زَلَفة f (zalafa) or زِلْفَة (zilfa)) (obsolete)

  1. mother-of-pearl-shell
    • 7th century CE, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 54:134:
      ثُمَّ يُرْسِلُ اللّٰهُ مَطَرًا لَا يَكُنُّ مِنْهُ بَيْتُ مَدَرٍ وَلَا وَبَرٍ فَيَغْسِلُ الأَرْضَ حَتَّى يَتْرُكَهَا كَالزَّلَفَةِ
      ṯumma yursilu llāhu maṭaran lā yakunnu minhu baytu madarin walā wabarin fayaḡsilu l-ʔarḍa ḥattā yatrukahā ka-z-zalafati
      Then God will send rain and there will be no brickhouse and no tent and he washes the earth, so that he leaves it blank like a nacre-shell.
Declension

References

  • Ullmann, Manfred (1992) Das Motiv des Spiegels in der arabischen Literatur des Mittelalters (Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen: Philologisch-historische Klasse; 198) (in German), Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, pages 22–24, he notes and definitely proves with poet citations that the other meanings given in the dictionaries are imaginary.
  • zlph”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian زلف (zolf, curl, tress).

Noun

زلف • (zülf)

  1. lovelock, a lock of hair that hangs down and is worn apart from the hair that remains

Derived terms

  • زلف زمین (zülf-i zemin, the darkness of night)
  • زلف عروس (zülf-i ʿarus, snailflower)
  • زلفلو (zülflü, adorned with lovelocks)

Descendants

  • Turkish: zülüf
  • Albanian: zylyfe
  • Armenian: զիւլիւֆ (ziwliwf), զըլիֆ (zəlif)
  • Bulgarian: сколуфа (skolufa)
  • Romanian: zuluf
  • Serbo-Croatian:

Further reading

Persian

Etymology

Belonging to زلفی (zolfi, door-ring by which the chain is fastened), زلفین (zolfin, door-ring; curl, tress), زرفین (zorfin, door-ring), which last has also been borrowed in Arabic زُرْفِين (zurfīn, ring; bolt or ring of a door; column capital particularly with volutes), زُرُّوف (zurrūf, curl in the hair), denominal زَرْفَنَ (zarfana, to crook, to make curly; to mark with a figure of a ring or curl). Their original is recorded as زفرین (zofrin), which relates to Avestan 𐬰𐬠𐬀𐬭 (zbar, to walk crooked), 𐬰𐬠𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬚𐬀 (zbaraθa, foot), 𐬰𐬠𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬵 (zbarah, hill), Sanskrit ह्वृ (hvṛ, to be crooked or bent).

Pronunciation

 

Readings
Classical reading? zulf
Dari reading? zulf
Iranian reading? zolf
Tajik reading? zulf

Noun

Dari زلف
Iranian Persian
Tajik зулф

زلف • (zolf)

  1. curl, tress
    تیره زلفtire zolfdark hair
    • c. 800 CE, Firooz :
      سرو سیمین ترا در مشک تر
      زلف فرخالت ز سر تا پا گرفت

Derived terms

  • زلف بافته (zolf bâfte, a braid)

Descendants

  • Armenian: զըլիֆ (zəlif), զիլիֆ (zilif), զուլֆ (zulf), զյուլֆ (zyulf)
  • Azerbaijani: zülf
  • Bengali: জুলফি (zulfi)
  • Gujarati: જુલફું (julphũ)
  • Hindustani:
    Hindi: ज़ुल्फ़ (zulf)
    Urdu: زلف
  • Northern Kurdish: zulf, zilf, zilif
  • Ottoman Turkish: زلف (zülüf, zülf)
    • Turkish: zülüf
    • Albanian: zylyfe
    • Armenian: զիւլիւֆ (ziwliwf), զըլիֆ (zəlif)
    • Bulgarian: сколуфа (skolufa)
    • Romanian: zuluf
    • Serbo-Croatian:
  • Crimean Tatar: zuluf

References

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