Quranic root
أنث
ʾ · n · th
The root centers on the female or feminine as opposed to the male, with associated extensions involving softness, yieldingness, and the receptive or passive side.
The lexical development extends from sex and grammatical gender to soft iron, fertile and even land, and figurative applications to things treated as feminine or passive. Quran-focused interpretation also applies the term polemically to inanimate idols as non-agent beings.
- Maqāyīs · row 152
- Mufradāt · row 57
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 30
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
أُنْثَى
ʾunthā
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 30 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.
A female; feminine as opposed to male, applied to a female being or to anything classed as feminine.
In the Quran this includes human and animal females, the feminine gender, and the dual expression “two females.” The noun may also occur in plural usage as إِنَاثٌ.
- Lane · entry 7301
- Mufradāt · row 57
Selected Quran examples
A Quranic polemical designation of idols or other inanimate objects as “females.”
In the relevant Quranic passages, this is interpreted either from the grammatically feminine names of the deities or from their being inanimate, passive, and incapable of hearing, seeing, or acting; it is not a claim that the objects possess biological sex.
- Lane · entry 7302
- Mufradāt · row 57
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:117word 6
“female (deities)”
Quran 43:19word 7
“females”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:178وَٱلْأُنثَىٰand the female
- 2:178بِٱلْأُنثَىٰ ۚfor the female
- 3:36أُنثَىٰa female
- 3:36كَٱلْأُنثَىٰ ۖlike the female
- 3:195أُنثَىٰ ۖfemale
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
أَنُثَ
To be or become female, feminine, or of the feminine gender.
A Form I verb; the feminine classification may apply to a person, animal, noun, or other thing.
- Lane · entry 7297
أَنِيثَةٌ
Of land or ground: plain, even, soft, and fertile, especially producing abundant herbage; of a place, one where vegetation grows quickly and abundantly.
Used in expressions for land or a place characterized by softness, evenness, and good growth.
- Lane · entry 7297
- Lane · entry 7299
- Lane · entry 7303
- Lane · entry 7304
أَنِيثٌ
Soft or yielding iron; by extension, a sword made of such iron, or a blunt and non-sharp sword.
The description contrasts with hard or sharp “male” iron and may describe either the metal or a sword made from it.
- Lane · entry 7297
- Lane · entry 7303
- Lane · entry 7304
أَنَّثَ
To make a noun or another syntactically dependent word feminine by attaching the sign of the feminine gender.
A Form II grammatical construction concerning the marking or treatment of a word as feminine.
- Lane · entry 7298
أَنَّثَ
To render a person effeminate.
A reported extended use of the Form II verb.
- Lane · entry 7298
أَنَّثَ لَهُ
To act gently toward someone, or to proceed gently in a matter; an alternative characterization describes the manner as effeminate.
Used with لَهُ toward a person and with فِي أَمْرِهِ in relation to an affair or undertaking.
- Lane · entry 7298
آنَثَتْ
Of a woman: to bring forth a female or females.
A Form IV verb describing childbirth.
- Lane · entry 7299
اِمْرَأَةٌ أَنْثَى
A feminine woman; conventionally, a perfect or exemplary woman, as a term of praise.
An idiomatic description of a woman, not merely a neutral statement of biological sex.
- Lane · entry 7301
إِنَاثٌ
Small stars.
A specialized plural usage.
- Lane · entry 7302
الأُنْثَيَانِ
The two testicles; in some usage, the scrotum.
A specialized dual anatomical expression.
- Lane · entry 7302
الأُنْثَيَانِ
The two ears.
A specialized dual expression associated with the feminine grammatical gender of the word.
- Lane · entry 7302
إِنَاثٌ
The two tribes of Bejeeleh and Kudāʿah.
A specific conventional tribal designation.
- Lane · entry 7302
أُنْثَيَا الفَرَسِ
The inner parts of a horse’s thighs.
A specialized anatomical expression referring to the two inner thigh parts of a horse.
- Lane · entry 7302
الأُنْثَى
A manjaniq, the engine of war known as a catapult.
A specialized designation attributed to the feminine gender of the word manjaniq.
- Lane · entry 7302
أَنَاثَةٌ
The female or feminine nature, quality, or gender.
An abstract noun for femininity or feminine classification.
- Lane · entry 7304
مُؤْنِثٌ
A woman who bears a female or females.
An agent noun describing the woman in relation to the sex of her offspring.
- Lane · entry 7306
مِئْنَاثٌ
A woman who usually bears female children, or a man who usually begets female children.
The designation applies to either sex; its counterpart is the term for one who usually produces male children.
- Lane · entry 7307
مُؤَنَّثٌ
Feminine or made feminine, especially a feminine word or grammatical form.
Used of a word that is intrinsically feminine or has been assigned feminine treatment.
- Lane · entry 7308
مُؤَنَّثٌ
An effeminate man, one resembling a woman in gentleness, softness of speech, languor of movement, or bodily form.
A figurative personal description distinct from grammatical femininity.
- Lane · entry 7308
طِيبٌ مُؤَنَّثٌ
Perfume associated with women, especially perfume that colors clothing.
Contrasted with perfumes characterized as masculine because they leave no color or mark.
- Lane · entry 7308
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic use in 4:117 and the related designation of deities has both a grammatical-feminine interpretation and a semantic interpretation based on inanimacy and lack of agency.