Quranic root
شحم
sh · ḥ · m
A root centered on fat, understood as a kind of flesh or fatty animal substance.
The substance noun extends in Classical Arabic to bodily fatness, desire for or provision of fat, possession of fat, and various named fatty or soft tissues and materials.
- Maqāyīs · row 2581
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- Quran-attested forms
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- Quran senses
- 1
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
شَحْمٌ
shaḥmun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Animal fat; fatty tissue or substance.
In the Quranic occurrence, the plural شُحُومَ refers to animal fats in a dietary ruling and is contrasted with what is carried on the backs.
- Lane · entry 37994
- Mufradāt · row 751
Selected Quran examples
Quran 6:146word 13
“their fat”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 6:146شُحُومَهُمَآtheir fat
Broader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 29 Classical meanings
شَحُمَ
To be or become fat; to become abundant in bodily fat. Of camels, to become fat, including after leanness.
Used of a person or animal, including a camel or she-camel.
- Lane · entry 37992
شَحِمَ، شَحِمٌ
To be eagerly desirous of fat; to eat much fat.
The adjective شَحِمٌ describes one who desires fat.
- Lane · entry 37992
- Lane · entry 37996
- Mufradāt · row 751
شَحَمَهُ
To feed a person or group with fat, or give them fat to eat.
A transitive construction with the person or group receiving the fat.
- Lane · entry 37992
أَشْحَمَ
To have much fat in one's possession.
A Form IV derived verb describing possession of a large amount of fat.
- Lane · entry 37993
شَحْمٌ
In idiomatic usage, briskness, liveliness, or sprightliness; a weak person may also be described as easy prey, literally “fat for the swallower.”
These are figurative expressions, not the ordinary denotation of animal fat.
- Lane · entry 37994
شَحْمَةٌ
A single piece or unit of fat.
The feminine noun is the unit noun corresponding to شَحْمٌ.
- Lane · entry 37994
شَحْمٌ
The hump of a camel.
A specialized animal-related use.
- Lane · entry 37994
شَحْمٌ
The whiteness, or white part, of the belly.
A specialized descriptive use.
- Lane · entry 37994
شَحْمَةُ الأُذُنِ
The soft lower lobe of the ear, especially the part from which an earring is suspended or where the piercing is made.
An anatomical compound expression.
- Lane · entry 37994
- Mufradāt · row 751
شَحْمَةُ العَيْنِ
The globe of the eye, or, in some descriptions, the portion beneath or behind the pupil.
An anatomical compound with variant descriptions of the exact part intended.
- Lane · entry 37994
شَحْمَةُ الحَنْظَلِ
The inner pulp of the colocynth, excluding its seeds.
A botanical compound expression.
- Lane · entry 37994
شَحْمَةُ الرُّمَّانِ
The thin yellow pulp or substance separating the seeds of a pomegranate.
A botanical compound expression.
- Lane · entry 37994
شَحْمُ النَّخْلِ، شَحْمَةُ النَّخْلَةِ
The heart pith or tender central heart of a palm tree.
A botanical compound expression.
- Lane · entry 37994
شَحْمَةُ المَرْجِ
A marsh-mallow plant.
A plant name formed as a compound expression.
- Lane · entry 37994
شَحْمُ الأَرْضِ، شَحْمَةُ الأَرْضِ
A truffle, including the white truffle.
The masculine form may function as a collective generic noun and the feminine form as a unit noun.
- Lane · entry 37994
شَحْمَةُ الأَرْضِ
A white worm or small white lizard-like sand-dwelling creature.
The sources give variant identifications, including a white earth worm and a small white reptile; it is also called شَحْمَةُ النَّقَا.
- Lane · entry 37994
- Mufradāt · row 751
أَبُو شَحْمٍ
An appellation for a small species known as حِمَارُ قَبَّانَ.
A fixed zoological appellation.
- Lane · entry 37994
شُحْمٌ
White, applied to men.
A rare vocalized form distinct from the ordinary noun for fat.
- Lane · entry 37995
شَحِمٌ
Of grapes: having little juice and a thick skin.
A specialized descriptive use applied to fruit.
- Lane · entry 37996
شَحْمَةٌ
Of a pomegranate: having a thick pulp or membrane between its seeds.
A specialized descriptive use applied to a pomegranate.
- Lane · entry 37996
شَحْمَةٌ
A certain bird.
A specialized zoological noun; the source preserves an editorially discussed reading of the entry.
- Lane · entry 37997
شَحْمَةٌ
A certain game played by Arab children of the desert.
A specialized cultural term.
- Lane · entry 37997
شَحِيمٌ
Fat, or abundant in bodily fat, as an epithet for a man.
An adjectival description of a person's body.
- Lane · entry 37998
- Mufradāt · row 751
شَحَّامٌ
A seller of fat.
An occupational noun.
- Lane · entry 37999
شَحَّامٌ
One who feeds people much with fat.
An agent noun describing repeated or abundant provision of fat.
- Lane · entry 37999
شَاحِمٌ
One who feeds people with fat.
An agent or occupational description.
- Lane · entry 38000
شَاحِمٌ
A man having or possessing fat.
A possessive epithet, distinct from the sense of feeding others with fat.
- Lane · entry 38000
مُشْحِمٌ
A man who has much fat in his house or tent; also, one whose camels are fat.
A derived descriptive form concerning stored fat or the fat condition of one's camels.
- Lane · entry 38001
مَشْحُومٌ
Food or bread into which fat has been put.
A passive participial description of food prepared with added fat.
- Lane · entry 38004
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic form is plural شُحُومَ, while the public headword is normalized to the singular citation form شَحْمٌ.
The rare vocalized form شُحْمٌ meaning “white” is a distinct classical usage, not a variant meaning of the ordinary fat noun.