طوف1 طَوڤفَ The inf. n. طَوَافٌ primarily signifies, accord. to Er-Rághib, The act of going, or walking, in an absolute sense: or the going, or walking, around, or otherwise. (MF, TA.) [Hence,] طَافَ حَوْلَ الشَّىْءِ, (S,) or بِالشَّىْءِ, (Msb,) or حَوْلَ الكَعْبَةِ, (O, K,) and بِهَا, (K,) aor. ـُ (S, O, Msb,) inf. n. طَوْفٌ (S, O, Msb, K) and طَوَافٌ (O, Msb, K, and mentioned also in the S but not there said to be an inf. n.) and طَوَفَانٌ, (S, O, K,) [and perhaps طُوفَانٌ, q. v.,] He went round or round about, circuited, or circuited around, or compassed, (Msb, TA,) the thing, (S, Msb,) or the Kaabeh; (O, K;) and so طَافَ, aor. ـِ (Msb; [but this I think doubtful;]) and ↓ تطوّف, (S, Msb, K,) and ↓ اِطَّوَّفَ, a variation of that next preceding, (Msb, TA,) inf. n. اِطِّوَّافٌ; (TA;) and ↓ استطاف, (S, Msb, K,) as also ↓ استطافهُ; (TA;) and بِهِ ↓ اطاف, (Msb,) or عَلَيْهِ; (TA;) and ↓ طوّف, inf. n. ↓ تَطْوِيفٌ; (K;) or this last signifies he did so much, or often. (S, TA.) And طاف بِالقَوْمِ, aor. ـُ inf. n. طَوْفٌ and طَوَفَانٌ and مَطَافٌ, He went round about [or round about among] the people, or party; as also ↓ اطاف: the aor.  of the former verb occurs in the Kur lvi. 17 and lxxvi. 19, trans. by means of عَلَى. (TA.) and طُفْتُ بِهِ عَلَى البَيْتِ [I went round the House of God, i. e. the Kaabeh, with him; or] I made him to go round, or to circuit, or compass, the House. (Msb. [The vulgar in the present day say ↓ طَوَّفْتُهُ: and they apply the appellation ↓ مُطَوِّف to One who makes the circuits round the Kaabeh with a pilgrim, and serves to conduct him round about to the other sacred objects, or places.]) You say also, طاف فِى البِلَادِ, inf. n. طَوْفٌ and تَطْوَافٌ, He journeyed [or journeyed round about] in the countries, or tracts of country; and so [or as meaning he did so much or often] ↓ طوّف, inf. n. تَطْوِيفٌ and تَطْوَافٌ. (TA. [In one place in the TA, the latter inf. n. is said to be with kesr, so that it is like تِبْيَانٌ; but see this latter, which is very extr.: see also تِطْوَافٌ below.]) ↓ لَأَطُوفَنَّ طَوْفَهُ means the same as لَأَسْعَرَنَّ سَعْرَهُ [app. I will assuredly practise circumvention like his practising thereof]. (Fr, O and K in art. سعر, q. v.) b2: See also 4, in two places.A2:  طَافَ, (S, Mgh, O, Msb, K,) aor.  as above, (S, O, Msb,) inf. n. طَوْفٌ, (S, Mgh, O, Msb,) from طَوْفٌ signifying غَائِطٌ; (S, O;) as also ↓ اِطَّافَ, (IAar, S, K, TA, [in the CK, erroneously, اطَّأَفَ,]) He voided his excrement, or ordure; (Mgh, Msb; *) or he went away (S, O, K) to the field, or open tract, (S, O,) to void his excrement, or ordure. (S, O, K.) 2 طَوَّفَ see 1, in three places. b2:  You say also, طوّف النَّاسُ, and الجَرَادُ, The men, or people, and the locusts, filled the land like the طُوفَان [or flood]. (TA.) 4 أَطْوَفَ see 1, in two places. b2:  اطاف بِالشَّىْءِ signifies also He, or it, surrounded, or encompassed, the thing. (Msb.) b3:  And اطاف بِهِ He came to him; visited him; or alighted at his abode as a guest; syn. أَلَمَّ بِهِ: and he approached him; or drew, or was, or became, near to him; syn. قَارَبَهُ. (S, K.) [And] طَافَ ↓ بِالنِّسَآءِ , aor. ـُ and اطاف; He came to women, or the women; visited them; or alighted at their abodes as a guest; syn. أَلَمَّ (Msb.) And اطاف بِهِ and عَلَيْهِ He came to him by night: and sometimes improperly used as meaning by day: a poet says,
أَطَفْتُ بِهَا نَهَارًا غَيْرَ لَيْلٍ
وَأَلْهَى رَبَّهَا طَلَبُ الرِّحَالِ [I came to her by day, not by night, while the seeking for the camels' saddles, or for the things necessary for his journey, or for the places of alighting, diverted her lord, or husband, from attending to her]. (TA.) And بِهِ الخَيَالُ ↓ طاف, aor. ـُ inf. n. طَوْفٌ; and, as As used to say, طاف, aor. ـِ inf. n. طَيْفٌ; The خيال [i. e. apparition, or phantom,] came to him, or visited him, (أَلَمَّ بِهِ,) in sleep. (TA.) 5 تطوّف and اِطَّوَّفَ: see 1, first sentence.8 اِطَّافٌ: see 1, last sentence.10 إِسْتَطْوَفَ see 1, first sentence, in two places.طَافٌ A man who goes round, or round about, much, or often; (S, O, K;) [and] so ↓ طَوَّافٌ: and ↓ طَوَّافَةٌ a woman who goes round, or round about, much, or often, to the tents, or houses, of her female neighbours. (Msb.) A2:  See also طُوف.طَوْفٌ in the phrase أَصَابَهُ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ طَوْفٌ, i. q. طَائِفٌ. (TA. See طَائِفٌ below, and in art. طيف.) b2:  [Also A kind of float composed of] inflated water-skins bound together, (S, O, Msb, K,) with wood [or planks] laid upon them, (Msb,) so as to have the form of a flat roof, (S, O, Msb, K,) upon the water; (Msb;) used for embarking thereon upon the water and for carriage thereon (S, O, K, TA) of wheat or other provisions and of men, and for the crossing [of rivers] thereon: (TA:) i. q. رَمَثٌ: and sometimes it is of wood, or timber: (S, O:) accord. to Az, a thing upon which large rivers are crossed, made of canes and of pieces of wood bound together, one upon another, and then bound round with ropes of the fibres or leaves of the palm-tree so as to be secure from its becoming unbound; after which it is used for embarking thereon and crossing, and sometimes it is laden with a load proportionate to its strength and its thickness: and it is also called عَامَةٌ, without teshdeed to the م: (TA:) pl. أَطْوَافٌ. (Msb, TA.) b3:  And The bull (ثَوْر) around which turn the oxen in the treading [of corn]. (TA.) [See طَائِفٌ.] b4:  And i. q. قِلْدٌ [app. as meaning A portion of water for irrigation: for it is immediately added], and طَوْفُ القَصَبِ signifies the quantity of water with which the canes are irrigated. (TA.) A2:  Also The foul matter that comes forth from the child after suckling: (El-Ahmar, Msb, TA:) and by a secondary application, (Msb,) human excrement, or ordure, (S, Mgh, O, Msb, K,) in an absolute sense: (Msb:) what Er-Rághib says respecting it indicates that this is metonymical. (TA.) أَخَذَهُ بِطُوفِ رَقَبَتِهِ and رقبته ↓ بِطَافِ i. q. بِصُوفِ رقبته (S, K) and بِصَافِهَا. (K.) طُوفَانٌ An overpowering rain: and overpowering water, [a meaning erroneously assigned in the CK to طَوَّاف instead of طُوفَان,] that covers [or overwhelms] everything; (S, K, TA;) in the common conventional acceptation, water abounding to the utmost degree; [i. e. a flood, or deluge;] such as befell the people of Noah; (TA;) or طُوفَانُ المَآءِ signifies the water that covers [or overwhelms] everything: (Msb:) and a drowning torrent: (K:) and (assumed tropical:)  much of anything, [like as we say a flood of anything,] such as includes the generality of persons, or things, within its compass: (K, TA:) and particularly (assumed tropical:)  death; or quick, or quick and wide-spreading, death; or death commonly, or generally, prevailing; (TA;) or quick, or quick and wide-spreading, death, commonly, or generally, prevailing: and (assumed tropical:)  quick [and extensive] slaughter: (K:) and (assumed tropical:)  any accident [or evil accident] that besets a man: and (assumed tropical:)  trial, or affliction: (TA:) and El-'Ajjáj likens to the rain, or water, thus called, the darkness of night; using the phrase طُوفَانُ الظَّلَامِ; (Kh, S;) by which he means (assumed tropical:)  the intensity of the darkness of the night: (TA:) طُوفَانٌ is said to be a pl. [or coll. gen. n.]; (Msb, TA;) and its sing. [or n. un.] is طُوفَانَةٌ, (S, Msb, K, TA,) accord. to analogy: (S:) thus says Akh: (S, TA:) or it is an inf. n., like رُجْحَانٌ and نُقْصَانٌ; and is from طَافَ, aor. ـُ (Msb, TA:) thus says Abu-l- 'Abbás; and he says that there is no need of seeking for it a sing.: some say that it is of the measure فُلْعَانٌ, from طَفَا المَآءُ, aor. ـْ meaning “ the water rose,” or “ became high; ” the ل being transposed to the place of the ع; but this is strange. (TA.) طَوَافٌ [is an inf. n. of 1, q. v., sometimes used as a simple subst., and] has for its pl. أَطْوَافٌ [which is regularly pl. of طَوْفٌ]. (TA.) طَوَّافٌ; and its fem., with ة: see طَافٌ. b2:  The former signifies also A servant who serves one with gentleness and carefulness: (K, TA:) pl. طَوَّافُونَ: so says AHeyth: IDrd explains the pl. as meaning servants, and male slaves. (TA.) It is said in a trad., respecting the she-cat, that it is not unclean, but is مِنَ الطَّوَّافِينَ عَلَيْكُمْ, or الطَّوَّافَاتِ; [i. e. of those that go round about waiting upon you;] she being thus put it. the predicament of the slaves: whence the saying of En-Nakha'ee, that the she-cat is like some of the people of the house, or tent. (TA.) [In the CK, a meaning belonging to طُوفَان is erroneously assigned to طَوَّاف.]A2:  Also A maker of the طَوْف that is composed of [inflated] water-skins [&c.] upon which one crosses [rivers &c.]. (TA.) طَائِفٌ part. n. of طَافَ, signifying Going round or round about, &c. (Msb.) b2:  [And hence,] The عَسَس [quasi-pl. n. of عَاسٌّ]; (S, O, K, TA;) [i. e.] the patrol, or watch that go the round of the houses; thus expl. by Er-Rághib; and said to mean particularly those who do so by night. (TA.) b3:  And The bull that is next to the extremity, or side, of the كُدْس [or wheat collected together in the place where it is trodden out]. (Ibn-'Abbád, K.) [See طَوْفٌ.] b4:  The طَائِف of the bow is The part between the سِئَة [or curved portion of the extremity] and the أَبْهَر [q. v.]: (S, K:) or near [the length of a cubit or] the bone of the fore arm from its [middle portion called the] كَبِد [thus I render قَرِيبٌ مِنْ عَظْمِ الذِّرَاعِ مِنْ كَبِدِهَا, which, I think, can have no other meaning]: or the طَائِفَانِ are [two parts]exclusive of the two curved ends (دُونَ السِّئَتَيْنِ): (K: [this last explanation seems to leave one of the limits of each طائف undefined:]) or, accord. to AHn, the طائف of the bow is the part beyond its كُلْيَة [q. v.], above and below, [extending] to the place of the curving of the end of the bow: the pl. is طَوَائِفُ. (TA.) b5:  لَأَقْطَعَنَّ مِنْهُ طَائِفًا occurs in a trad. respecting a runaway slave, as meaning [I will assuredly cut off] some one, or more, of his أَطْرَاف [app. meaning fingers]: or, as some relate it, the word is طَابَِقًا. (TA.) And Aboo-Kebeer El-Hudhalee says, تَقَعُ السُّيُوفُ عَلَى طَوَائِفَ مِنْهُمُ meaning, it is said, [The swords fall upon] arms and legs or hands and feet [of them: but in this case, طَوَائِف may be pl. of ↓ طَائِفَةٌ]. (TA.) A2: One says also, أَصَابَهُ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ طَائِفٌ [A visitation from the Devil befell him]; and ↓ طَوْفٌ likewise, in the same sense. (TA. [See also طَيْفٌ.]) طَائِفَةٌ A detached, or distinct, part or portion; a piece, or bit; [or somewhat;] of a thing: (S, Msb, K:) and a فِرْقَة of men [i. e. a party, portion, division, or class, thereof; as those of one profession or trade: a body, or distinct community: a sect: a corps: and sometimes a people, or nation]: (Msb:) and a company, or congregated body, (Msb, KL,) of men, at least consisting of three; and sometimes applied to one; and two: (Msb:) or one: and more than one: (S, K:) so, accord. to I' Ab, in the Kur xxiv. 2: (S:) or up to a thousand: (Mujáhid, K:) or at least two men: ('Atà, K:) or one man; (K;) as is said also on the authority of Mujáhid; (TA;) so that it is syn. with نَفْسٌ [as meaning a single person, or an individual]: (K:) [and sometimes it is applied to a distinct number, or herd &c., of animals:] Er-Rághib says that when a plural or collective number is meant thereby, it is [what lexicologists term] a pl. of طَائِفٌ; and when one is meant thereby, it may be a pl. metonymically used as a sing., or it may be considered as of the class of رَاوِيَةٌ and عَلَّامَةٌ and the like: (TA:) [pl. طَوَائِفُ.] b2:  See also طَائِفٌ, last sentence but one.طَائِفِىٌّ A sort of raisins, of which the bunches are composed of closely-compacted berries: app. so called in relation to [the district of] Et-Táïf. (AHn, TA.) تِطْوَافٌ, (JM, TA,) with kesr, (TA,) [and app. تَطْوَافٌ also, as it is sometimes written,]  for ذُو تطوافٍ, (JM,) A garment in which one goes round, or curcuits, (JM, TA,) the House [of God, i. e. the Kaabeh]. (JM.) مَطَافٌ A place of طَوَاف (O, Msb, K *) i. e. of going round or round about, or circuiting. (Msb.) مُطَوِّفٌ: see 1, latter half.