Quranic root
أخر
ʾ · kh · r
The root expresses what is behind, later, or contrary to precedence.
From spatial or positional being behind, the root develops temporal lateness and postponement. آخَر denotes a non-first or additional item, while آخِر denotes what is last or subsequent and, when substantivized, the ultimate world or state of existence.
- Maqāyīs · row 47
- Mufradāt · row 2
- 6
- Quran-attested forms
- 9
- Quran senses
- 250
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
أَخَّرَ
ʾakhkhara
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form II
- Form
- II
- Quran occurrences
- 15 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.
To put or leave someone or something behind, after, or later; to keep back.
A transitive causative use: what is put behind may be spatially posterior or later in an ordered sequence.
- Lane · entry 6306
- Mufradāt · row 2
Selected Quran examples
Quran 75:13word 6
“and kept back”
Quran 82:5word 5
“and left behind”
To postpone, defer, or grant respite until a later time.
A transitive temporal use, including delaying a person, an event, or an appointed term.
- Lane · entry 6306
- Mufradāt · row 2
Selected Quran examples
Quran 14:10word 14
“and give you respite”
Quran 71:4word 5
“and give you respite”
تَأَخَّرَ
taʾakhkhara
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form V
- Form
- V
- 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.
To be or become behind or later; to remain behind, lag, or be delayed.
An intransitive use describing a person or thing that follows another, remains in the rear, or occurs later.
- Lane · entry 6307
- Mufradāt · row 2
Selected Quran examples
اِسْتَأْخَرَ
āistaʾkhara
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form X
- Form
- X
- Quran occurrences
- 6 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.
To seek or be able to remain behind or be delayed; to seek postponement.
In the Quranic constructions, the form concerns remaining later or delaying an appointed occurrence, without changing its fixed term.
- Lane · entry 6308
- Lane · entry 6307
Selected Quran examples
Quran 7:34word 8
“seek to delay”
Quran 10:49word 19
“they remain behind”
Quran 23:43word 7
“they (can) delay (it)”
آخَر
ʾākhar
- Part of speech
- Adjective / Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 70 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.
Another, other, or an additional one; one distinct from the first or from the one already mentioned.
Used adjectivally or substantively, with masculine, feminine, singular, dual, and plural forms; it can identify the other member of a pair or an alternative item.
- Lane · entry 6321
- Mufradāt · row 2
Selected Quran examples
The remaining or last member of a group.
A conventional use with a group or sequence, especially in expressions referring to the last of a people.
- Lane · entry 6321
Selected Quran examples
Quran 7:38word 25
“(the) last of them”
Quran 7:39word 3
“to (the) last of them”
آخِر
ʾākhir
- Part of speech
- Adjective / Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 155 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.
Last, latter, aftermost, or at the end; the concluding one or part.
Used adjectivally or substantively for what follows the first or precedes no later item, including the end of a sequence or period.
- Lane · entry 6322
- Mufradāt · row 2
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:72word 15
“(at) its end”
Quran 37:108word 4
“the later generations”
The Hereafter; the ultimate world, life, or state of existence.
A substantivized use, often with الدار or الحياة understood or expressed, and contrasted with the present or worldly life.
- Lane · entry 6322
- Mufradāt · row 2
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:4word 10
“and in the Hereafter”
Quran 93:4word 1
“And surely the Hereafter”
مُسْتَأْخِر
mustaʾkhir
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- 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.
One who comes later or remains behind; a later one.
The Quran occurrence is plural and refers to those who are later, including those later in sequence, birth, or emergence.
- Lane · entry 6331
Selected Quran examples
Quran 15:24word 7
“the later ones”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:4وَبِٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِand in the Hereafter
- 2:8ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ[the] Last
- 2:62ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ[the] Last
- 2:86بِٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ ۖfor the Hereafter
- 2:94ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةُ(of) the Hereafter
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 13 Classical meanings
أَخِرٌ
A reviling epithet for an outcast, an alienated or remote person, or a base and ignoble fellow; it may also be interpreted as the last speaker.
Used in cursing or reviling; the cited lexical discussion explicitly reports that it is not addressed to a female.
- Lane · entry 6309
أُخُرٌ؛ مُؤَخَّرٌ
The back, hinder, or latter part of something; behind or backwards in adverbial use.
Used for a rear portion or direction, contrasted with the front or forward part.
- Lane · entry 6310
- Lane · entry 6326
بِأَخِرَةٍ
On deferred payment; on credit, with payment postponed to a future period.
A commercial construction equivalent to payment by a period of respite or deferment.
- Lane · entry 6313
أُخْرَوِيٌّ
Relating to the other state of existence or the world to come.
A relational adjective formed from the lexical branch associated with the ultimate or other world.
- Lane · entry 6318
الآخِر
The Last: the one who remains after all creatures have perished.
A divine name in theological usage, emphasizing continued existence after creation has passed away.
- Lane · entry 6322
الآخِرَانِ
The two hindmost teats of a she-camel, those nearest the thighs.
An anatomical term contrasted with the two forward teats.
- Lane · entry 6322
آخِرَةُ الرَّحْلِ؛ مُؤَخِّرُهُ
The rear part of a camel or horse saddle against which the rider leans.
A technical saddle term, contrasted with the forward or central part of the saddle.
- Lane · entry 6322
- Lane · entry 6325
- Lane · entry 6326
- Lane · entry 6327
آخِرَةٌ
Absent or away.
A specialized meaning reported by some lexicographers and not treated as the ordinary sense of the headword.
- Lane · entry 6322
مُؤْخِرُ العَيْنِ
The outer angle of the eye, the part next to the temple.
An anatomical term opposed to the inner or forward extremity next to the nose.
- Lane · entry 6325
المُؤَخِّر
The Postponer or Delayer: the one who postpones or delays things and puts them in their appointed places.
A divine name, contrasted with المُقَدِّمُ, the one who brings forward.
- Lane · entry 6327
مِئْخَارٌ
A palm tree whose fruit remains until the end of winter or until the end of the fruit-cutting season.
A botanical term contrasted with an early-fruiting palm.
- Lane · entry 6328
مُتَأَخِّرٌ
A person, author, or other entity of a later or more modern time.
A chronological use describing a later generation or period rather than merely a person who is physically behind.
- Lane · entry 6330
تَأَخَّرَ عَنْ
To hold back from, refrain from, or abstain from a thing or affair.
A conventional Form V construction with عَنْ; this specialized construction is broader than the Quranic uses represented under the Form V sense.
- Lane · entry 6307
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Form X Lane entry is pointer-only; its Quranic sense is assigned through that pointer and the directly described linked Form V lexical branch, together with the supplied QAC morphology.
Lane's citation of the active participle as “Kur xv. 24” is treated as 15:24 only because QAC independently supplies 15:24:7 for this form; the historical citation itself is not independently modernized.