ظَرُفَ, (T, Ṣ, M, &c.,) inf. n. ظَرَافَةٌ, (Ṣ, Mṣb,) or ظَرْفٌ and ظَرَافَةٌ, (T, M, Mgh,* O, Ḳ,) but the latter is rare, (Ḳ,) allowable in poetry, (T, M,) or, as some say, is of frequent occurrence, and confirmed by analogy, (MF, TA,) said of a man, (Ṣ, O,) [or only of a young man, and ظَرُفَت of a young woman,] He possessed the quality, or qualities, termed ظَرْف meaning as expl. below [i. e. excellence, or elegance, in mind, manners, and address or speech; and in person, countenance, or garb, guise, or external appearance; or all of these qualities combined: he was, or became, clever, ingenious, intelligent, or acute in intellect; well-mannered, well-bred, accomplished, or polite; beautiful in person or countenance; elegant, or graceful; or elegant in garb, guise, or external appearance]. (T, Ṣ, O, Mṣb, Ḳ.)

See also what here follows {3}.

ظَارَفَنِى فَظَرَفْتُهُ↓ [He vied, or contended, with me in ظَرْف] and I was more ظَرِيف (كُنْتُ أَظْرَفَ↓) than he. (IḲṭṭ, TA.)

اظرف He (a man) had many [ظُرُوف, or] receptacles [of any kind]. (TA.)

And He begat, (Ṣ, Mgh, O, Ḳ,) or had born to him, (M,) children that were ظُرَفَآء (Ṣ, M, O, Ḳ) or ظِرَاف [pls. of ظَرِيف, q. v.]. (Mgh.)

اظرف بِالرَّجُلِ He mentioned the man as possessing ظَرْف. (M, TA.)

And اظرف فِى العِبَارَةِ is explainable [as meaning He was elegant, or eloquent, in the expression, or phrase, or speech], if the saying be received from those who are trustworthy: if not, it is correctly أَطْرَفَ, with the unpointed ط; meaning “he said what was novel and pleasing.” (Mgh.)

اظرف المَتَاعَ, (O,) in the Ḳ, erroneously, فُلَانًا, (TA,) He put, or assigned, or made, a ظَرْف [or receptacle] for the goods. (O, TA.)

تظرّف He affected ظَرْف; (Ṣ, O, Ḳ;) as alsoتظارف↓. (TA.) One says, فُلَانٌ يَتَظَرَّفُ وَلَيْسَ بِظَرِيفٍ [Such a one affects ظَرْف and he is not ظَرِيف]. (TA.)

استظرفهُ He found him [or held him] to be ظَرِيف. (O,* TA.)

ظَرْفٌ A receptacle (Lth, T, Ṣ, M, Mgh, O, Mṣb, Ḳ) of anything; (Lth, T, M;) [a vessel, or vase;] an إِبْرِيق is thus termed as being a ظرف for what is in it: (Lth, T, TA:) and AḤn applies it to a seed-vessel, or pericarp, or a cell of a pericarp: (M, TA:) [and it is also applied to a case, or cover, for a book or the like:] the pl. is ظُرُوفٌ: (T, Ṣ,* M, Mgh, O, Mṣb, Ḳ:) أَظْرَافٌ is a mistake. (Mgh.) [Applying it to a vessel of silver,] Har uses it as meaning “silver.” (P. 614 [referring to a phrase in p. 213].) One says, أَخَذْتُ المَتَاعَ بِظَرْفِهِ [I took the goods with the receptacle thereof]. (A, TA.) And hence, (A, TA,) رَأَيْتُهُ بِظَرْفِهِ ‡ I saw him himself. (A, O, Ḳ, TA.) And هُوَ نَقِىُّ الظَّرْفِ ‡ He is faithful, (O, Ḳ, TA,) not treacherous. (M, O, Ḳ, TA.)

And hence † [An adverbial noun of place or of time, implying the meaning of the preposition فى; and also by some applied to a noun of place or of time together with that preposition; i. e.] what are termed ظَرْفُ المَكَانِ and الزَّمَانِ, (O,) pl. ظُرُوفُ الزَّمَانِ and المَكَانِ: (Ṣ, M:*) the descriptive terms that denote the places [or times] of things are called ظُرُوفٌ: (Lth, T:) they are thus termed by Kh; and by Ks, مَحَالُّ; and by Fr, صِفَاتٌ. (T.)

Also [Excellence, or elegance, in mind, manners, and address or speech; and in person, countenance, or garb, guise, or external appearance; or all of these qualities combined:] a term denoting a condition that combines the generality of mental and bodily and extrinsic excellences; likened [by reason of its comprehensiveness] to the receptacle thus called: (Er-Rághib, TA:) or cleverness, ingeniousness, intelligence, or acuteness in intellect; syn. كِيَاسَةٌ, (Ṣ, O, Ḳ,) or كَيْسٌ, (Mgh, Mṣb,) and ذَكَآءٌ: (Mgh:) or i. q. بَرَاعَةٌ, and ذَكَآءُ قَلْبٍ; [the former meaning excellence in knowledge, or other qualities; or accomplishment, or perfection, in every excellence, and in goodliness;] (ʼEyn, M, O, Mṣb, Ḳ;*) thus accord. to most of the copies of the Ḳ [as well as the ʼEyn and M and O and Mṣb], but correctly بَزَاعَة, with the letter زاى: (TA:) [if so, these two explanations (بَزَاعَةٌ and ذَكَآءُ قَلْبٍ) add nothing to others here given:] or skilfulness (M, Ḳ, TA) in a thing (M, TA) is thus termed by the people of El-Yemen: (TA:) or it is in the tongue, (IAạr, T, Ḳ,) only; (Ḳ;) meaning beauty of expression, (M, L, TA,) and eloquence; (L, TA;) and حَلَاوَةٌ is in the eyes, and مَلَاحَةٌ is in the mouth, and جَمَالٌ is in the nose: (IAạr, T:) or beauty of garb, guise, or external appearance: (M:) or beauty of face, and of garb, guise, or external appearance: (O, Ḳ:) or it is in the face and in the tongue: (Ks, O, Ḳ:) or goodliness, or beauty; and أَدَب [as having the meaning first assigned to ظَرْفٌ in this sentence, i. e. excellence, or elegance, in mind, manners, or address or speech; or as meaning good breeding, good manners, politeness, or polite accomplishments]: (Mṣb:) or, as an inf. n., the being elegant, graceful, or beautiful: and the being intelligent, sagacious, or acute in intellect: (KL:) accord. to the author of the ʼEyn, (O,) it is only an attribute of young men and young women (M, O, Mṣb,* Ḳ) that are acute in intellect, clever, or skilful; (M, O, Ḳ;) not of elders, nor of lords, or chiefs: (M, Ḳ:) but as meaning كِيْسٌ, it is common to young persons and elders: (Mṣb:) some of those who affect distinctness of speech by twisting the sides of the mouth say that the word is ظُرْفٌ↓, with damm, to distinguish it from ظَرْفٌ meaning “a receptacle;” but this is a sheer mistake. (MF, TA.)

[ظَرْفِيَّةٌ, a term of grammar, The quality of denoting place, or time, adverbially, by a noun implying the meaning of the preposition فِى; and also, accord. to some, by a noun together with that preposition. One says مَنْصُوبٌ عَلَى الظَّرْفِيَّةِ, meaning Put in the accusative case as denoting place, or time, adverbially.]

[ظَرُوفٌ perhaps signifies Possessing the quality, or qualities, termed ظَرْف, in a great, or an extraordinary degree: used alike as masc. and fem.: for I find it stated that] one says قَيْنَةٌ ظَرُوفٌ [A female slave, or slave-songstress, that is very intelligent or skilful or elegant, &c.]. (TA. [But I think it most probable that this is a mistranscripfor قِتْيَةٌ ظُرُوفٌ, a phrase which I find in the T, and there expl. as meaning ظُرَفَآءُ.])

ظَرِيفٌ Possessing the quality, or qualities, termed ظَرْف; (T, Ṣ, M, O, Mṣb, Ḳ;) as alsoظُرَافٌ↓, (Lḥ, M, O, Ḳ,) the two being like طَوِيلٌ and طُوَالٌ, (O,) [or the latter has an intensive signification, (see طُوَالٌ, and see also the “Durrat el-Ghowwáṣ,” in De Sacy's Anthol. Gramm. Arabe, p. 48 of the Ar. text,)] andظُرَّافٌ↓, (M, Ḳ,) or this last, which is like طُوَّالٌ, denotes more than ظُرَافٌ without teshdeed: (O:) accord. to Mbr, it is derived from ظَرْف signifying “a receptacle,” as though meaning a receptacle for excellence, or elegance, in mind, manners, or address or speech: (TA:) [it may be rendered, agreeably with explanations of ظَرْفٌ, excellent, or elegant, in mind, manners, and address or speech; and in person, countenance or garb, guise, or external appearance: or clever, ingenious, intelligent, or acute in intellect; well-mannered, well-bred, accomplished, or polite; beautiful in person or countenance; elegant, or graceful;, &c.:] and is expl. as meaning eloquent; thus by Aṣ and IAạr: and possessing knowledge and courage: and goodly, or beautiful, in clothing, and in outer apparel: (TA:) and is used by the people of El-Yemen as meaning skilful: (O:) and, as Ks says, it is applied as an epithet to a tongue, and to a face: (TA:) the pl. of ظَرِيفٌ is ظِرَافٌ (Ṣ, M, O, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ظُرَفَآءُ (T, Ṣ, O, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ظَرِيفُونَ (O, Ḳ) and ظُرُفٌ, (Ṣ, M, IB, Ḳ,) a form sometimes used, (IB, TA,) and ظُرُوفٌ, (T, Ṣ, M, O, Ḳ,) also a form sometimes used, (Ṣ, O,) approvable in poetry, (T,) as though formed from ظَرْفٌ, or [anomalous] like مَذَاكِيرُ (Ṣ, O, Ḳ) accord. to Kh (Ṣ, O) and Sb: (TA:) the pl. ofظُرَافٌ↓ is ظُرَفَآءُ: (Lḥ, M, Ḳ:) and the pl. ofظُرَّافٌ↓ is ظُرَّافُونَ: (M, Ḳ:) the fem. of ظَرِيفٌ is ظَرِيفَةٌ; and the pl. of this is ظِرَافٌ, (Sb, T, M, Mṣb, TA,) like a pl. of the masc., (Sb, M, TA,) and ظَرَائِفُ. (T, M, TA.) It is said in a trad. of ʼOmar, mentioned by IAạr, (Mgh, O, TA,) and by Aṣ, (TA,) إِذَا كَانَ اللِّصُّ ظَرِيفًا لَا يُقْطَعُ, (Mgh,) or لَمْ يُقْطَعْ, (O, TA,) meaning When the thief is eloquent (Mgh, O, TA) and intelligent, (Mgh,) he averts from himself the prescribed punishment by his pleading [so that he will not be, or is not, mutilated by amputation of the hand]. (Mgh, O, TA.)

[ظَرِيفَةٌ, as a subst., A thing, and a saying, that is ظَرِيف, meaning elegant,, &c.: pl. ظَرَائِفُ.]

ظَارِفٌ [is distinguished from ظَرِيفٌ like as شَارِفٌ is from شَرِيفٌ, q. v.]. Lh mentions the saying اُظْرُفْ إِنْ كُنْتَ ظَارِفًا [Possess thou ظَرْف if thou be one who will possess it]: in meaning the actual state, they said إِنَّهُ لَظَرِيفٌ [Verily he is one who possesses ظَرْف]. (M.)

أَظْرَفُ: see 3. Ks allows the saying, interrogatively, مَا أَظْرَفُ زَيْدٍ أَلِسَانُهُ أَظْرَفُ أَمٌ وَجْهُهُ [What is the part that is the more excellent in ظَرْف (or elegance,, &c.), of Zeyd? is his tongue the more so, or his face?]. (TA.)

يَا مَظْرَفَانُ is an expression similar to يَا مَلْكَعَانُ [and مَكْذَبَانُ, &c.; meaning O thou who possessest the quality, or qualities, of ظَرْف in a great, or an extraordinary degree]. (A, TA.)