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, page 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–

Persian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) Compare زلفین‎ (zolfin), زرفین‎ (zorfin), 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”).

Pronunciation

Noun

زلف • (zolf)

  1. curl, tress
    ‏تیره زلف‎ ― tire zolf ― dark 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)
  • → Hindustani:
    Hindi: ज़ुल्फ़ (zulf)
    Urdu: زلف‎
  • → Northern Kurdish: zulf, zilf, zilif
  • → Ottoman Turkish: زلف‎ (zülüf, zülf)
    • Turkish: zülüf
    • → Romanian: zuluf
  • → Crimean Tatar: zuluf

References

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