حجفة

Arabic

Etymology

From the otherwise sparsely attested root ح ج ف (ḥ-j-f) meaning “to parry”, “to deflect”, “to echo”, “to send back”, “to repel”; likely a variant of ح ج ب (ḥ-j-b).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ħa.d͡ʒa.fa/

Noun

حَجَفَة • (ḥajafa) f (plural حَجَف (ḥajaf) or حَجَفَات (ḥajafāt))

1. shield made of skins, without wood or sinews
   • 7th century CE, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 29:7:

     لَمْ تُقْطَعْ يَدُ سَارِقٍ فِي عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي أَقَلَّ مِنْ ثَمَنِ الْمِجَنِّ حَجَفَةٍ أَوْ تُرْسٍ وَكِلاَهُمَا ذُو ثَمَنٍ.

     During the lifetime of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) the hand of a thief was not cut off for less than the price of a shield, skin-shield or scutum, and both of them are valuable.

Declension

Declension of noun حَجَفَة (ḥajafa)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	حَجَفَة ḥajafa	الْحَجَفَة al-ḥajafa	حَجَفَة ḥajafat
Nominative	حَجَفَةٌ ḥajafatun	الْحَجَفَةُ al-ḥajafatu	حَجَفَةُ ḥajafatu
Accusative	حَجَفَةً ḥajafatan	الْحَجَفَةَ al-ḥajafata	حَجَفَةَ ḥajafata
Genitive	حَجَفَةٍ ḥajafatin	الْحَجَفَةِ al-ḥajafati	حَجَفَةِ ḥajafati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	حَجَفَتَيْن ḥajafatayn	الْحَجَفَتَيْن al-ḥajafatayn	حَجَفَتَيْ ḥajafatay
Nominative	حَجَفَتَانِ ḥajafatāni	الْحَجَفَتَانِ al-ḥajafatāni	حَجَفَتَا ḥajafatā
Accusative	حَجَفَتَيْنِ ḥajafatayni	الْحَجَفَتَيْنِ al-ḥajafatayni	حَجَفَتَيْ ḥajafatay
Genitive	حَجَفَتَيْنِ ḥajafatayni	الْحَجَفَتَيْنِ al-ḥajafatayni	حَجَفَتَيْ ḥajafatay
Plural	basic broken plural triptote‎; sound feminine plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	حَجَف‎; حَجَفَات ḥajaf‎; ḥajafāt	الْحَجَف‎; الْحَجَفَات al-ḥajaf‎; al-ḥajafāt	حَجَف‎; حَجَفَات ḥajaf‎; ḥajafāt
Nominative	حَجَفٌ‎; حَجَفَاتٌ ḥajafun‎; ḥajafātun	الْحَجَفُ‎; الْحَجَفَاتُ al-ḥajafu‎; al-ḥajafātu	حَجَفُ‎; حَجَفَاتُ ḥajafu‎; ḥajafātu
Accusative	حَجَفًا‎; حَجَفَاتٍ ḥajafan‎; ḥajafātin	الْحَجَفَ‎; الْحَجَفَاتِ al-ḥajafa‎; al-ḥajafāti	حَجَفَ‎; حَجَفَاتِ ḥajafa‎; ḥajafāti
Genitive	حَجَفٍ‎; حَجَفَاتٍ ḥajafin‎; ḥajafātin	الْحَجَفِ‎; الْحَجَفَاتِ al-ḥajafi‎; al-ḥajafāti	حَجَفِ‎; حَجَفَاتِ ḥajafi‎; ḥajafāti

Derived terms

• حَاجَفَ (ḥājafa, “to oppose, to repel; to fence against”)
• اِحْتَجَفَ (iḥtajafa, “to turn away”)

Descendants

• Ge'ez: ሐገፋ (ḥägäfa, “shield”)

References

• “حجفة” in Almaany
• Freytag, Georg (1830) “حجفة”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[1] (in Latin), volume 1, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 347
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “حجفة”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[2], London: Williams & Norgate, page 520
• Leslau, Wolf (1991) Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 227