saraf

See also: šaraf and Saraf

English

Alternative forms

• (obsolete): xaraffe, xaraffo, charaff, xaraf, xaroff, xeraffo, sarraf, saraff, serof, seraff

Etymology

From Urdu صراف (sarrāf) and Classical Persian صراف (sarrāf), from Arabic صَرَّاف (ṣarrāf).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saˈɹɑːf/

Noun

saraf (plural sarafs)

1. A provider of financial services in the Middle East and in South Asia, especially (historical) during the early modern and colonial period.
   • 1598, Jan Huygen van Linschoten, translated by William Phillip, Discours of Voyages into ye Easte & West Indies, Bk. i, Ch. xxxiii, p. 66:

     There is in euery place of the street exchangers of mony, by them called Xaraffos, which are all christian Iewes.

   • 1811, Carsten Niebuhr, “Travels in Arabia”, in John Pinkerton, transl., A General Collection of Voyages and Travels..., volume X, page 71:

     He sent us to receive the money from his Saraf, or banker.

   • 1877, James Carlile McCoan, Egypt As It Is, page 115:

     The mâmour... till the recent reform appointing a Controller-General of Receipts, received the taxes from the saraffs.

   • 1897 July, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, page 24:

     They [Armenians] prospered as our ‘Sarrafs’.

Hypernyms

• banker, moneychanger, cashier, usurer

Derived terms

• shroff, Saraf

References

• “saraf, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1909.

Anagrams

• Afars, Safar

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsaraf]
• Hyphenation: sa‧raf

Etymology 1

From Arabic عَصَب (ʕaṣab, “nerve”) or شَرَف (šaraf, “elevated place; eminence, dignity; honour”).

• The sense in medicine was coined by Komisi Istilah to translate English nerve and Dutch nerf.

Noun

saraf (first-person possessive sarafku, second-person possessive sarafmu, third-person possessive sarafnya)

1. (medicine) nerve

Alternative forms

• sarap, syaraf

Derived terms

• persarafan

 

• saraf abdusen
• saraf aferen
• saraf aksesoris
• saraf akustik
• saraf gerak
• saraf kranial
• saraf median
• saraf motoris
• saraf optik
• saraf otonom
• saraf otonomik
• saraf pemancar
• saraf sensoris
• saraf somatik
• saraf tepi
• saraf tulang punggung
• saraf vagus

 

Etymology 2

From Malay saraf, from Arabic صَرْف (ṣarf).

Noun

saraf (first-person possessive sarafku, second-person possessive sarafmu, third-person possessive sarafnya)

1. (grammar, linguistics) inflection.

Compounds

• ilmu saraf

 

Further reading

• “saraf” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Ladino

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic صَرَّاف (ṣarrāf).

Noun

saraf m (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling סאראף)

1. money changer

Malay

Pronunciation

• Audio (MY)

  (file)

Noun

saraf (Jawi spelling سارف, plural saraf-saraf, informal 1st possessive sarafku, 2nd possessive sarafmu, 3rd possessive sarafnya)

1. nerve (neurons with their connective tissue sheaths, blood vessels and lymphatics)

Further reading

• “saraf” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.