Quranic root
أثم
ʾ · th · m
The root centers on slowness or falling behind; ethically, sin is understood as conduct that holds a person back from good and reward.
The concrete sense of sluggish movement develops into falling into sin, being burdened with sin, abstaining from sin, and the requital associated with sin.
- Maqāyīs · row 30
- Mufradāt · row 16
- 5
- Quran-attested forms
- 7
- Quran senses
- 48
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
إِثْم
ʾithm
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 35 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.
Sin, crime, fault, offense, or an act of disobedience—an unlawful act for which blame or punishment is incurred and which holds one back from reward.
The general Quranic moral category of sinful conduct; it may be attributed to an act, speech, or course of conduct. In discussions of wine and gambling, it denotes their sinful aspect rather than ordinarily naming those things themselves.
- Lane · entry 6165
- Lane · entry 6169
- Mufradāt · row 16
Selected Quran examples
The punishment or requital resulting from sin.
A less usual Quran-associated interpretation recorded for the noun; the historical citation in the lexical evidence is not converted here into a modern verse location.
- Lane · entry 6169
أَثَام
ʾathām
- Part of speech
- Verbal 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.
Requital, recompense, or punishment for sin.
In the Quranic expression at 25:68, the dominant lexical interpretation is the punishment or requital resulting from sins. An alternative interpretation understands the expression as referring to a consequence leading to the commission of further sins.
- Lane · entry 6170
- Mufradāt · row 16
Selected Quran examples
Quran 25:68word 22
“a penalty”
أَثِيم
ʾathīm
- Part of speech
- Adjective
- Quran occurrences
- 7 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.
Sinful; burdened with sin; one who commits sin, sometimes with the force of habitual or excessive sinning.
An adjective describing a person as characterized by sin or heavily burdened with it; the habitual or intensive nuance is supported in some classical explanations but need not apply in every occurrence.
- Lane · entry 6173
- Lane · entry 6176
- Mufradāt · row 16
Selected Quran examples
A great or habitual liar.
This is a Quran-associated lexical interpretation preserved from the evidence; its historical Lane citation is not securely matched to a supplied modern QAC word location.
- Lane · entry 6173
آثِم
ʾāthim
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- Quran occurrences
- 3 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 who bears or incurs sin; a sinner.
An active-participial description of a person who has incurred or carries sin.
- Lane · entry 6176
- Mufradāt · row 16
Selected Quran examples
تَأْثِيم
taʾthīm
- Part of speech
- Verbal 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.
Sin or sinful speech, including speech that entails or ascribes sin.
Used of sinful discourse or the verbal ascription of sin; the Quranic contexts deny such speech in the setting described.
- Lane · entry 6165
- Lane · entry 6166
Selected Quran examples
Quran 52:23word 8
“sin”
Quran 56:25word 6
“sinful (speech)”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 48 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 12 Classical meanings
أَثِمَ
To fall into sin; to commit a sin or other unlawful act.
Form I verbal usage.
- Lane · entry 6165
أَثَمَهُ
To reckon someone guilty of sin, punish or requite him for it, or declare him a sinner.
Transitive usage in which a person or act is judged in relation to sin.
- Lane · entry 6165
أَثَّمَهُ
To tell someone that he has sinned or to charge him with sin.
Form II verbal usage; its verbal noun is associated with تَأْثِيم.
- Lane · entry 6166
آثَمَهُ
To cause someone to fall into sin.
Form IV causative usage.
- Lane · entry 6167
تَأَثَّمَ
To abstain from sin, withdraw from it, repent, and seek forgiveness.
Form V reflexive usage, describing separation from or avoidance of sin.
- Lane · entry 6168
أَثَام
Sin or sinful acts, used synonymously with إِثْم.
A broader Classical Arabic nominal use distinct from the Quranic interpretation of أَثَام as punishment or requital.
- Lane · entry 6165
إِثْم
Wine, by metonymic usage.
A tropical, non-primary use motivated by the sinfulness of drinking wine rather than by the ordinary meaning of the noun.
- Lane · entry 6169
إِثْم
Stake-contending or wagering in a game of hazard.
A tropical use synonymous with gambling, motivated by the destruction of property associated with the activity.
- Lane · entry 6169
أَثَام
A valley in Hell.
A Classical Arabic interpretation of the noun distinct from its meaning of punishment or requital.
- Lane · entry 6170
أَثِمَ
To be slow or tardy in movement.
Attested especially of a she-camel's walking.
- Lane · entry 6165
آثِمَة
A slow, tardy, weary, or jaded she-camel; by related adjectival usage, something slack or slow in pace.
A concrete Classical Arabic usage concerning slowness of movement.
- Lane · entry 6176
مَأْثُوم
Reckoned to have sinned, having sin reckoned against one, or requited for sin.
A passive-participial description of a person subject to a judgment or requital connected with sin.
- Lane · entry 6180
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The historical Quran citation attached to the liar interpretation of أَثِيم is not converted into a modern verse location because it does not securely match a supplied QAC occurrence.
The meanings of wine and gambling under إِثْم are explicitly marked as metonymic Classical Arabic uses, not the ordinary Quranic meaning of the noun.
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
The Lane citation for the liar interpretation of أَثِيم is historically formatted and appears not to align exactly with the supplied QAC location 2:276; the interpretation is retained without assigning a modern example location.