Qur’anic Dictionary

Classical Arabic dictionary definitions for every Qur’anic root, harmonized into readable English. Select a root to read its entries from Lisān al-ʿArab, al-Mufradāt and other classical works.

ا

ابو — Father/forefather
اتي — Come/give (arrive, bring, deliver)
اثم — Sin, wrongdoing, transgression
اجر — Reward/payment for service
اجل — Appointed time/term
احد — one, single
اخذ — Take, seize, grasp
اخر — Late/after/other
اخو — Brother/sibling (male or female)
اذن — Hear/Listen (core) → Permission (derived)
ارض — Earth, ground, land
اكل — Eat/consume
الم — Painful/suffering
اله — God; the deity; divine being
الو — Divine blessings/favors (noun); withhold/spare (verb)
امر — Command/Order/Matter
امم — Origin/source community
امن — Security, safety, trustworthiness
انس — human being, mankind
اني — How (interrogative particle)
اهل — Family, Household, People
اول — First/Origin/Those Having
اوي — Shelter/Refuge (place of dwelling or protection)
ايي — Sign, Mark, Evidence

ب

باس — Bad, wretched, miserable; also strength/might
بحر — sea
بدل — Substitute, exchange, replace
بدو — Reveal, Make Visible
برا — Create / bring into existence / disassociate
برر — Land/earth; Righteousness/goodness
برك — Divine favor / sacred abundance
بشر — Announce good news / bring glad tidings
بصر — Perception/Insight (visual and inner)
بطل — CESSATION, NULLIFICATION, VOIDNESS
بعث — Send forth/raise up
بعد — Distance/after (temporal or spatial separation)
بعض — part, some
بغي — Seek, desire, want
بلغ — Reach, arrive at, convey
بلو — Test/Trial
بني — Build / Beget (construct offspring or structure)
بيت — House/dwelling, place of staying overnight
بين — Make clear/distinct; clarify

ت

تبع — Follow / pursue / come after
تحت — Under, beneath, below
ترك — Leave, abandon, relinquish
تلو — Recite/Read aloud
توب — Turn, return (from error to correct)

ث

ثلث — Three / Third

ج

جبل — Mountain
جرم — Committing crime/sin
جري — Flow, move, run (directed continuous motion)
جزي — Recompense/pay back
جعل — Make, place, appoint
جمع — Gather, collect, bring together
جنب — Side, flank, distance/away
جنح — Blame/sin (noun); wing (noun); incline (verb)
جنن — Cover, protect, conceal (enveloping enclosure)
جهد — Strive/exert oneself
جوب — Answer, respond, reply
جيا — come, arrive

ح

حبب — love / to love
حجج — Argue/dispute; pilgrimage
حدث — Speech, narration, account
حرم — Forbidden, prohibited, sacred
حزن — Grieve/sorrow
حسب — Count/think/reckon
حسن — Goodness, beauty, virtue
حشر — Gather, collect, assemble
حفظ — Guard, Watch Over, Preserve
حقق — Truth/reality
حكم — Wise/Discerning/Judge
حلل — Loosen/Make Permissible
حمد — Praise / To praise / Praiseworthy
حمل — Carry/lift (a load or burden)
حيث — Place/location marker (where, wherever)
حين — Time/when/while
حيي — Life, living, vitality

خ

خبر — All-Aware / Fully Acquainted
خرج — Go out, bring forth, cause to emerge
خسر — Lose, loss
خشي — Fear (religious/reverential)
خفي — Hide, conceal, be hidden
خلد — Remain forever, eternal duration
خلص — Chosen, selected, pure
خلف — Succeed/replace/follow in sequence
خلق — create, bring into being
خوف — Fear
خير — Goodness / Better / Choose

د

دبر — Back, rear; to turn the back; to manage/arrange
دخل — Enter/Admit
دعو — Call upon / Invoke / Summon
دنو — Nearness/lowness
دور — Home, dwelling, place of residence
دون — Other than/besides (what is beneath/secondary)
دين — Recompense/Judgment (the settling of accounts)

ذ

ذرر — Offspring/descendants; atom
ذكر — Remember, mention, recall
ذنب — Sin, wrongdoing, transgression
ذهب — Go/Depart (verb); Gold (noun)
ذوق — Experience directly, undergo

ر

راي — See / perceive / show
ربب — Lord, Master, Owner, Sovereign
رجع — Return, go back, restore
رجل — foot/leg; man
رحم — Mercy/compassion (from womb etymology)
ردد — Turn back, return
رزق — To provide sustenance/provision
رسل — Send/dispatch (someone or something)
رضو — Approval, satisfaction, being pleased
روح — Wind/breath as moving air or life-force
رود — Intend, Desire, Will
ريب — Doubt/uncertainty

ز

زكو — Purify/purity (moral-spiritual)
زوج — Pair, mate, spouse
زيد — Increase/grow
زين — Make attractive, adorn, beautify

س

سال — Ask, inquire, request
سبح — Exalt/Praise (by declaring transcendence)
سبق — Precede/outstrip in racing
سبل — Way/path/route (literal and figurative)
سجد — Prostrate/bow down in worship
سحر — Magic, sorcery
سخر — Subject to service/mockery
سرر — Conceal, hidden, secret
سكن — Dwell/Reside/Rest
سلط — Authority, legitimate power
سلم — Submit/Submitting (to God); Peace/Safety
سمع — Hear / Hearing
سمو — Sky/Heaven; Name/Designation
سوا — Badness, harm, wrongdoing
سوع — The eschatological Hour (resurrection/judgment)
سوي — Be equal/level; make even

ش

شدد — Severe, intense, strong
شرب — To drink / drink
شرر — Evil, bad, harm
شرك — Associate, share, join (with another in worship)
شطن — Adversary/tempter (supernatural evil being)
شعر — Perceive/Realize (verb); Hair/Mark (noun)
شفع — Intercession; to speak on someone's behalf
شكر — Acknowledge favor/reciprocate goodness
شمس — The sun (celestial body)
شهد — Witness, testify, be present
شيا — Will/wish (verb) or thing (noun)

ص

صبح — To become/turn into (with temporal anchor of morning)
صبر — Endure / Restrain oneself
صحب — Companion/associate/accompanying
صدد — Turn away, hinder, prevent
صدر — Breast/chest; inner self
صدق — Truth/sincerity
صرط — Path/way (of guidance)
صلح — Righteousness, proper condition, improvement
صلو — Prayer/worship ritual
صوب — Strike/hit; befall (cause to reach and affect)

ض

ضرب — Strike/Set forth/Move about
ضرر — Harm, damage, adversity
ضعف — Multiply / Make weak
ضلل — Go astray, lose the way

ط

طعم — Eat/feed, food provisions
طغي — Exceed limits, transgress
طهر — Purify, be pure
طوع — Obedience and ability
طوف — Circulate/move around; group
طيب — Good, pleasing, excellent

ظ

ظلل — shade/shadow (physical covering)
ظلم — Wrong/oppress; darkness
ظنن — Think, assume, conjecture
ظهر — Back, behind, support

ع

عبد — Serve/worship (submit to authority)
عجل — Haste/speed (the quality of quick action)
عدد — Count/Number/Prepare
عدو — Run, pass over, transgress
عذب — Punishment; torment
عرش — Elevated platform/throne
عرض — Turn away, present/show
عرف — Know/Recognize (knowledge, acknowledgment)
عزز — Strength, power, might
عصي — Disobey, defy, rebel against authority
عظم — Greatness/magnitude (physical and abstract)
عفو — Pardon, forgive, overlook (an offense or obligation)
عقب — Follow/Aftermath/Heel
عقل — To reason, to use intellect, to understand
علم — Know / Knowledge
علو — Height, elevation, supremacy
عمل — To work, do, perform (action/deeds)
عمي — Blind/unable to see (physical or metaphorical)
عند — Nearness/proximity (physical and relational)
عهد — Covenant/binding commitment
عود — Return, repeat, restore
عين — Eye / spring / source

غ

غفر — Cover, Conceal (with semantic extension to forgive)
غفل — Unaware/heedless/neglectful
غلب — overcome, prevail, dominate
غني — To be sufficient/wealthy; self-sufficiency
غيب — Hidden, concealed, unseen
غير

ف

فتح — Open / Open up
فتن — Test/Trial/Tempt
فرق — Separate/Divide/Distinguish
فري — Invent falsehood / fabricate lies
فسد — Cause ruin/damage, spread corruption
فسق — To depart from obedience/rebellion
فصل — Separate, divide, set apart
فضل — Prefer/give surplus favor
فعل — Do / Make / Act
فلح — Prosper, succeed, achieve wellbeing
فوق — Above, over, higher than

ق

قبل — Front/before; receive/accept
قتل — Kill/slay
قدر — Power/Ability
قدم — Precede/be before, put forward
قرا — Recite/Read aloud
قرب — Near/Approach/Proximity
قرر — Settle/dwell/establish in place
قرن — Join/connect or successive group
قري — Town/city (inhabited settlement)
قسم — Swear/Oath (core) and Division/Apportionment (related)
قضي — Decide/Decree/Conclude
قطع — Cut off, sever, divide
قعد — Sit/remain in place
قلب — Heart; center; turning point
قلل — Small, few, little (in quantity/number)
قول — Speak/say
قوم — Rise, stand, establish
قوي — Strength/power

ك

كبر — Be great/big; greatness, size
كتب — Write/Record
كثر — ## Root Analysis: ك ث ر (k-v-r)
كذب — Deny/Lie
كرم — noble, honored, generous
كره — Dislike, Aversion, Reluctance
كسب — Acquire/gain (actions, wealth, or consequences)
كفر — Cover, hide, deny
كفي — To be sufficient/adequate
كلل — all, every (totality/universal quantifier)
كلم — Speech/Word/Utterance
كون — Be, exist, become
كيد — Plot, scheme, conspire
كيف — How/manner/way

ل

لبث — Remain, stay, dwell
لعن — Curse/reject
لقي — Encounter/meet (both throwing toward and coming together)
ليس — Not be, is not (existential negation)
ليل — Night, nighttime period

م

متع — Temporary use/benefit, provision for enjoyment
مثل — Resemblance, likeness, example
مدد — Stretch, spread, extend
مرا — Person/human being (male or female)
مرر — Pass/going by; time/occasion
مسس — Touch/affect through contact
مكر — Scheme/plot (secret strategic planning)
ملا — Fill / Full / Chiefs (social group)
ملك — Sovereignty / Dominion / Angels
موت — Death / To die
مول — Wealth, property, capital
موه — Water (the liquid substance)

ن

نبا — Inform/Announce
نجو — Save/rescue; private conversation
ندو — Call out/summon
نذر — Warn/vow (make binding obligation)
نزل — Descend/send down (from above)
نسو — Women, females
نسي — Forget / Cause to forget
نصب — Portion/allocation
نصر — Help, aid, assistance
نظر — Look/wait/guard (visual observation and temporal expectation)
نعم — Goodness/pleasantness bestowed
نفس — Breath/soul/self
نفع — Benefit, be useful, be of advantage
نفق — Spend/expend (wealth); Hypocrisy/double-dealing
نكر — Unknown, unfamiliar, strange / Wrong, disapproved
نهر — Flow / Flowing water / Daytime
نهي — Forbid, Desist, Prohibit
نور — Light / Fire (illumination source)
نوس — humans, people, mankind

ه

هجر — Leave, depart, migrate
هدي — Guide/direct to the right path
هزا — Mockery, ridicule
هلك — Destroy/perish/annihilate
هوي — Desire/inclination (noun), fall/descend (verb)

و

وثق — Bind, make firm, secure
وجد — find / discover
وجه — Face/direction
وحد — One, unity, alone
وحي — Impart/communicate knowledge or instruction
وذر — Leave, abandon, forsake
ورث — Inherit/transfer possession
وري — Behind/beyond (spatial); conceal (verbal)
وسع — To encompass, contain, have capacity/means
وصي — Command, instruct, order
وعد — Appoint, fix a time/place
وفي — Take fully/receive completely
وقي — Fear/caution with protective awareness
وكل — Entrust/Empower with Authority
ولد — Birth / Offspring / Parent
ولي — Turn toward/face; one who has authority over

ي

يدي — Hand
يسر — Ease, to make easy
يمن — Right/right hand/oath
يوم — day / daytime period