Quranic root
أحد
ʾ · ḥ · d
The root is oriented toward oneness: being one, unique, unified, or solitary.
The hamzated branch is treated as developing from و-ح-د, with meanings extending from numerical or absolute oneness to unification, divine unity, and being alone or apart.
- Maqāyīs · row 43
- Mufradāt · row 20
- Lane · entry 6266
- 2
- Quran-attested forms
- 4
- Quran senses
- 85
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
إِحْدَى
ʾiḥdā
- Part of speech
- Noun · feminine form
- Quran occurrences
- 11 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.
One, one of a pair or group; the feminine form used to identify a single member or alternative.
Used in feminine affirmative constructions, especially with a dual or a specified group; Quranic usage includes “one of the two” and “one of a set.”
- Lane · entry 6267
- Mufradāt · row 20
Selected Quran examples
أَحَدٌ
ʾaḥadun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 74 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.
One; one member of a specified group or pair.
In affirmative constructions, it commonly appears as a prefixed or possessive noun, as in “one of them,” “one of you,” or “one of the two.”
- Lane · entry 6267
- Mufradāt · row 20
Selected Quran examples
Quran 12:36word 6
“one of them”
Quran 18:19word 22
“one of you”
Any one; anyone at all.
Used especially in negative constructions, where it can range over persons collectively or individually and can correspond to different genders or numbers. A reported variant Quran reading also uses it for “anything.”
- Lane · entry 6267
- Mufradāt · row 20
Selected Quran examples
The One: unique, indivisible, and without a counterpart.
Used absolutely as an epithet of God, rather than as an ordinary affirmative noun for a person or object.
- Lane · entry 6267
- Mufradāt · row 20
Selected Quran examples
Quran 112:1word 4
“the One”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:96أَحَدُهُمْ(each) one of them
- 2:102أَحَدٍone
- 2:102أَحَدٍone
- 2:136أَحَدٍۢany
- 2:180أَحَدَكُمُany of you
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 15 Classical meanings
أَحَدٌ / إِحْدَى
One as the first number, including its use in compound numerals such as eleven and twenty-one.
In the compound eleven, أَحَدٌ is masculine and إِحْدَى is feminine; in other compound numerals it may alternate with وَاحِدٌ according to the construction.
- Lane · entry 6267
- Mufradāt · row 20
أَحَّدَ
To make one; to unite or unify.
A causative Form II verb, synonymous in this branch with making things one or united.
- Lane · entry 6264
أَحَّدَ اللهَ
To declare or profess God to be one.
Used in the construction with God as object and meaning profession of divine unity.
- Lane · entry 6264
أَحَّدَ
To make a number increase by one.
Attested in the expression “make ten become eleven.”
- Lane · entry 6264
اِسْتَأْحَدَ
To be or become alone, apart from others, or solitary.
Form X usage meaning to remain by oneself or separate from others.
- Lane · entry 6266
اِسْتَأْحَدَ بِهِ
Not to know, understand, perceive, or become aware of a thing or affair.
A dialectal usage attributed to Yemen, especially in the expression مَا اسْتَأْحَدَ بِهِ.
- Lane · entry 6266
إِحْدَى الإِحَدِ
A great, grievous, or terrible event; a calamity.
An idiomatic intensive expression for an event of exceptional severity or magnitude.
- Lane · entry 6267
أَحَدُ الأَحَدِينَ / إِحْدَى الإِحَدِ
Unique among the unique; unequalled or incomparable.
An expression of the highest praise, especially for an intelligent or distinguished being.
- Lane · entry 6267
إِحْدَى مِنْ سَبْعٍ
One of a set, in an exceptional independent use of إِحْدَى.
Attested in the reported expression إِحْدَى مِنْ سَبْعٍ, where إِحْدَى is neither part of a compound numeral nor a prefixed noun.
- Lane · entry 6267
ابْنُ إِحْدَاهَا
Born of noble or generous ancestry; a person of distinguished lineage.
An idiomatic expression said of a man and also applied to a camel; related forms occur in expressions about managing a difficult affair.
- Lane · entry 6267
أَحَدِيَّةٌ
The unity or oneness of God.
A derived abstract noun denoting divine unity.
- Lane · entry 6270
أُحَادَ
One by one; singly and successively.
Used repetitively in expressions describing people arriving or acting individually.
- Lane · entry 6271
أَحَدٌ
Anyone, in an interrogative question.
Used in questions such as “Has anyone seen this?”
- Lane · entry 6267
الأَحَدُ / يَوْمُ الأَحَدِ
Sunday, the first day of the week.
A proper-name use for the day; the historical reckoning of the week is noted as varying among authorities.
- Lane · entry 6267
الآحَادُ
Reports transmitted by some lexicologists or transmitters, but not by so many that collusion on falsehood is considered impossible.
A technical term contrasted with مُتَوَاتِرٌ, reports transmitted by a larger number.
- Lane · entry 6267
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
A Lane-cited reported variant reading at Quran 60:11 uses أَحَدٌ in the sense “anything”; 60:11 is not a supplied canonical QAC occurrence, so it is recorded only within the negative-sense conditions and not as a Quran example.