Quranic root
شيب
sh · y · b
The root centers on whiteness or hoariness, especially white hair and the appearance of white among what was dark.
The lexical development extends from gray or white hair and the onset of aging to hair or heads becoming white, mountains whitened by snow or frost, and winter months named for the whiteness of the earth. A proposed root-level connection with intermixture is reflected in white strands appearing among dark hair.
- Maqāyīs · row 2734
- Lane · entry 39712
- Lane · entry 39715
- Lane · entry 39724
- 2
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 3
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
شَيْب
shayb
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 2 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
White or gray hair; whiteness or hoariness of the hair, including the onset or spread of grayness.
The related form شَيْبَة functions as a verbal-noun or noun variant in the same lexical branch. In وَاشْتَعَلَ الرَّأْسُ شَيْبًا, شَيْبًا specifies the whiteness spreading through the head, or is understood as an infinitive describing that process.
- Lane · entry 39715
- Lane · entry 39718
- Mufradāt · row 802
Selected Quran examples
Quran 19:4word 9
“(with) white”
Quran 30:54word 18
“and gray hair”
أَشْيَب
ʾashyab
- Part of speech
- Adjective · plural substantive
- 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.
White-haired or hoary ones; the plural substantive of أَشْيَب.
The Quranic occurrence is the plural form شِيب, used substantively for those characterized by white or gray hair.
- Lane · entry 39716
- Lane · entry 39724
Selected Quran examples
Quran 73:17word 8
“gray-haired”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 3 occurrencesBroader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 13 Classical meanings
شَابَ
To become white-haired or hoary; of the head or hair, to become white.
It may be intransitive of a person or head, and may also be used transitively with the head as object, meaning to whiten the head. The hills may likewise be described as becoming white or hoary by extension.
- Lane · entry 39712
شَيَّبَ
To cause someone or the head to become white-haired or hoary.
A causative use, including the construction in which grief makes a person or his head hoary.
- Lane · entry 39713
أَشَابَ
To have children who have become white-haired or hoary.
Said of a man whose children have reached that condition.
- Lane · entry 39714
شِيب
The thong at the upper extremity of a whip.
A whip is said to have two such thongs, شِيبَانِ.
- Lane · entry 39716
شِيب
An imitative word for the sound made by camels’ lips while drinking.
An onomatopoeic use distinct from the gray-hair noun and plural adjective.
- Lane · entry 39716
شَيْبَة
A white or hoary beard.
A reported conventional or postclassical specialization of the headword.
- Lane · entry 39718
شَيْبَة
A name for certain artemisia plants and lichens.
The botanical references include artemisia arborescens, lichen prunastri, and شَيْبَةُ الجَبَلِ, a lichen designation.
- Lane · entry 39718
شِيبَان
The two coldest winter months, the two months of قِمَاح.
The name is explained by the whiteness of the earth under frost or snow; شِيبَان alone can also designate the first of these months.
- Lane · entry 39720
شِيب
Snow- or frost-whitened mountains; by extension, white clouds.
The expression may describe mountains white with snow, hoarfrost, or dust, and some usage applies it to white clouds.
- Lane · entry 39724
أَشْيَب
Of truffles, white; in one description, white and large.
A specialized descriptive use applied to truffles.
- Lane · entry 39724
أَشْيَب
A day marked by cold and cloud.
In يَوْمٌ أَشْيَبُ, the clouds are described as thin or cold, humid clouds.
- Lane · entry 39724
لَيْلَةُ الشَّيْبَاءِ
The last night of the lunar month.
The expression contrasts with the first night, called لَيْلَةُ حُرَّةٍ.
- Lane · entry 39724
لَيْلَةُ شَيْبَاءَ
In an idiom concerning a woman, the night on which she is deflowered.
This idiomatic use is contrasted with بِلَيْلَةِ حُرَّةٍ, said when she has not been deflowered.
- Maqāyīs · row 2734
- Mufradāt · row 802
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
شَيْبَة is grouped with شَيْب for the Quranic gray-hair sense, while its separately reported white-or-hoary-beard specialization is kept among broader Classical meanings.
The phrase لَيْلَةُ شَيْبَاءَ has two distinct reported uses in the evidence: the last night of the lunar month and an idiom for defloration.
The spelling شِيب has unrelated Classical uses for a whip thong and an imitative camel-drinking sound; the Quranic occurrence is the plural substantive of أَشْيَب.