عَطْفَةٌ

[as a verbal noun un.] An inclining: hence, in a tradition, كَأَنَّ عَطْفَتَهُمْ حِينَ سَمِعُوا صَوْتِى عَطْفَةُ البَقَرِ عَلَى أَوْلَادِهَا [As though their inclining, when they heard my voice, were the inclining of the cows (apparently meaning wild cows) towards their young ones]. (O, TA.)

-A2- And A certain bead by means of which women captivate men; (S, O, K;) as also ↓ عِطْفَةٌ. (K.)

-A3- Also, (K,) or ↓ عَطَفَةٌ, for which عَطْفَة is used by poetic license, (ISh and O, [referring to a verse which will be found at the close of this paragraph, in which verse, however, it is certainly not used as applied to what here immediately follows,]) A tree to which the حَبْلَة [i. e. grape-vine, or branch of a grapevine,] clings; (ISh, O, K;) and so ↓ عِطْفَةٌ, (K,) or thus as written in the “ Book of Plants ” by AHn, who says that it is thus called because of its bending and twining upon trees: (O: [but this remark seems evidently to show that he means thereby one of the plants mentioned below voce عِطْفَةٌ or voce عَطَفَةٌ, or perhaps what here follows:]) IB says that the عَطْفَة is the لَبْلَاب [dolichos lablab of Linn.]; so called because of its twining upon trees: (TA:) [and this, or what will be found mentioned voce عَطَفَةٌ below, may be meant in the following verse:] a poet says,

تَلَبَّسَ حُبُّهَا بِدَمِى وَلَحْمِى

تَلَبُّسَ عَطْفَةٍ بِفُرُوعِ ضَالِ

[The love of her mingled with, and clung to, my blood and my flesh, like the mingling and clinging of an عطفة with, and to, the branches of a wild lote-tree]. (ISh, O, TA.)