Quranic root
شتو
sh · t · w
A root centered on the winter season, the time opposed to summer.
The seasonal noun extends in Classical Arabic to expressions for entering or being affected by winter, remaining in a place during winter, winter weather and hardship, winter-related terms, and places or periods associated with wintering.
- Maqāyīs · row 2564
- Lane · entry 37832
- Lane · entry 37840
- Lane · entry 37846
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 1
- 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.
شِتَاءٌ
shitāʾun
- 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.
Winter; the winter season.
In Qur'an 106:2, it occurs in the expression “the journey of winter and summer,” naming the season opposed to summer.
- Lane · entry 37840
- Mufradāt · row 747
Selected Quran examples
Quran 106:2word 3
“(of) winter”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 106:2ٱلشِّتَآءِ(of) winter
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 20 Classical meanings
شَتَا
To commence, or begin, as winter.
An intransitive seasonal verb describing the onset of winter.
- Lane · entry 37832
شَتَا
To become intensely cold.
Attested with a day as subject, as in “the day became intensely cold.”
- Lane · entry 37832
شَتَا
To remain, stay, dwell, or abide in a place during winter; to winter in a place.
Used with a place, country, or town; the same construction is also attested for pasturing cattle there during winter.
- Lane · entry 37832
شَتَا
To experience drought, barrenness, or dearth during winter.
A seasonal hardship usage applied to a people or group.
- Lane · entry 37832
شَتِيَ
To be smitten or affected by winter.
A distinct stative verb describing the effect of winter on a subject.
- Lane · entry 37832
شَتَّى
To suffice or provide enough for one's winter.
Attested in the construction “this thing will suffice me for my winter.”
- Lane · entry 37833
مُشَاتَاةٌ
To bargain for or arrange work by the winter season; in the related construction, to hire or take someone as a hireling.
A conventional Form III seasonal-work expression, with شِتَاءً functioning as a verbal noun rather than merely an adverb of time.
- Lane · entry 37834
أَشْتَى
To enter the winter season.
The Form IV verb is attested of people entering winter.
- Lane · entry 37835
شَتًا
A rough or rugged place.
A nominal geographic usage distinct from the seasonal noun.
- Lane · entry 37837
شَتًا
The higher, upper, front, or fore part of a valley.
A geographic term for a particular part of a valley.
- Lane · entry 37837
شَتْوِيٌّ
Pertaining or relating to winter.
A relational adjective with variant formations associated with شِتَاءٌ and شَتْوَةٌ.
- Lane · entry 37839
شَتْوِيٌّ
Winter rain.
A specialized seasonal-weather usage of the relational form.
- Lane · entry 37839
شَتْوِيٌّ / مُشْتٍ
Seasonal increase or offspring among sheep and goats, and similarly a young camel born in the relevant seasonal cycle.
A specialized livestock term; the cited account associates it with a named seasonal birth cycle.
- Lane · entry 37839
شِتَاءٌ
In calendrical reckoning, a seasonal quarter or one of the six two-month seasons; in another reckoning, the half-year beginning at the autumnal equinox.
The cited calendar classifications vary; this is an extended temporal usage beyond the ordinary designation of winter.
- Lane · entry 37840
شِتَاءٌ
Hail falling from the sky.
A distinct noun usage glossed as بَرَدٌ.
- Lane · entry 37840
شِتَاءٌ
Drought or dearth.
A seasonal usage associated specifically with winter because people remain in tents and do not go out to seek herbage.
- Lane · entry 37840
شَاتٍ
Entering or being in winter, with winter understood as a season of drought or dearth.
An adjectival or participial seasonal expression in which the winter period is characterized by scarcity.
- Lane · entry 37844
شَاتٍ
Intensely cold, or marked by hail.
Attested of a day or morning.
- Lane · entry 37844
مَشْتًى / مَشْتَاةٌ
The winter time, a place of wintering, or wintering considered as an act or verbal noun.
The two related forms are explicitly used for the time, place, and source or act associated with wintering.
- Lane · entry 37846
- Mufradāt · row 747
مُشْتٍ
In a reported traditional reading, being in straitness, dearth, hunger, and scarcity of milk.
This meaning belongs to a disputed variant reading in a traditional quotation; the commonly transmitted reading is reported as مُسْنِتُونَ.
- Lane · entry 37847
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic sense is the ordinary winter-season meaning; Classical extensions such as hail, drought or dearth, and calendrical periods are listed separately.
The مُشْتٍ scarcity meaning is preserved as a disputed traditional reading, not as an unqualified general usage.