خَافَةٌ
1.
A [coat of the kind called] جُبَّة, of hide, or leather, which the collector of honey wears; (Akh, JK, K;) and also worn by the water-carrier: (JK:) or a fur-garment, or hide with the fur or wool on it, worn by him who enters into the places occupied by bees, in order that they may not sting him: (TA:) or a [pouch of the kind termed] خَرِيطَة, (S, K,) of hide, or leather, (S,) narrow in the upper part and wide in the lower part, (TA,) in which honey is collected: (S, K:) or a [round piece of leather with a running string by means of which it may be converted into a bag, such as is termed] سُفْرَة, like the
خَرِيطَة, made, or sewed, small, [for مُصْعَدَةٌ or مُصَعَّدَةٌ, which I find in different copies of the K, and to which no appropriate meaning is assignable, I read مُصْغَرَةٌ or مُصَغَّرَةٌ, (see 2 in article صغر, and particularly أَصْغَرَ القِرْبَةَ,)] having its head [or border] raised, for honey; (K;) so says Skr, in explaining the following verse: or, as IB says, according to Aboo-'Alee, it is from the phrase النَّاسُ أَخْيَافٌ, meaning “ men, ” or “ the people, ” “ are different, one from another; ” for it is a
خَرِيطَة
of hide, or leather, embellished with different kinds of embellishment; and if so it should be mentioned in article خيف: (TA:) [but] the diminutive is
خُوَيْفَةٌ. (JK.) Aboo-Dhu-eyb says, [describing a collector of wild honey,]
(S,) [He put beneath his armpit a خافة in which was a receptacle for honey, and betook himself to making successive endeavours to reach the most difficult part of a mountain by means of a rope, or rope of palm-fibres; for] he means شِيقًا بِمَسَدٍ; the phrase being inverted: (S and TA in article شيق:) or he means, [betook himself to] taking successive holds of a rope (يَتَتَبَّعُ حَبْلًا) tied to a شيق [here best rendered mountain-top] in his descent to the place of the honey; so that there is no inversion. (TA in that article)تَأَبَّطَ خَافَةً فِيهَا مِسَابٌفَأَصْبَحَ يَقْتَرِى مَشَدًا بِشِيقِ
2.
Also i. q.
عَيْبَةٌ [A kind of basket, or receptacle, of hide, or leather]; (TA;) the thing in which fruits are gathered; also called مِخْرَفٌ. (Har p. 374.)
3.
And خَافَةُ الزَّرْعِ is said to mean The envelope of the grain of seed-produce; so called because it protects it: to this the believer is likened in a tradition [as some relate it]; but the reading [commonly known] is [خَامَة,] with م. (TA.) [See خامة, in article خيم.]