Quranic root
عمد
ʿ · m · d
The root centers on directedness and support: standing or extending upright, directing oneself toward an object, and relying on something that sustains or bears weight.
From upright supports and things relied upon, the lexicon develops meanings of intention, purpose, reliance, structural support, central members, and states produced by pressure or bearing.
- Maqāyīs · row 3306
- Mufradāt · row 1007
- 4
- Quran-attested forms
- 5
- Quran senses
- 7
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
تَعَمَّدَ
taʿammada
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form V
- Form
- V
- 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.
To do deliberately or intentionally; to intend an act on purpose.
In the Quranic construction تَعَمَّدَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْ, it describes deliberate intention rather than inadvertence.
- Mufradāt · row 1007
- Lane · entry 4716
Selected Quran examples
Quran 33:5word 23
“intended”
عَمَدٌ
ʿamadun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- 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.
Pillars, columns, or structural supports.
In the descriptions of the heavens, the supports may be understood as visible pillars or as pillars not seen; the same noun also denotes ordinary supporting posts.
- Lane · entry 4731
- Mufradāt · row 1007
Selected Quran examples
Quran 13:2word 6
“pillars”
Quran 31:10word 4
“pillars”
Extended pillars or columns of fire.
A Quranic construction describing the punishment in which the pillars are extended; this is a contextualized Quranic use of the pillar term, not a conversion of Lane’s historical citation notation into a modern location.
- Lane · entry 4731
- Maqāyīs · row 3306
Selected Quran examples
Quran 104:9word 2
“columns”
عِمَادٌ
ʿimādun
- Part of speech
- 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.
Supporting pillars or lofty structures; in إِرَمَ ذَاتِ الْعِمَادِ, the expression refers to Iram associated with lofty buildings supported by columns, or, in an alternative interpretation, with height and tallness.
The Quranic phrase has several classical interpretations, including lofty buildings, tallness, or both; the verse location is independently secured by QAC.
- Lane · entry 4730
- Mufradāt · row 1007
Selected Quran examples
Quran 89:7word 3
“lofty pillars”
مُتَعَمِّدٌ
mutaʿammidun
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- 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.
Deliberate, intentional; acting knowingly and on purpose.
An active participle describing an intentional act, including intentional killing or intentional violation in the Quranic examples; no object-class restriction is implied.
- Mufradāt · row 1007
- Lane · entry 4716
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:93word 4
“intentionally”
Quran 5:95word 12
“intentionally”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 4:93مُّتَعَمِّدًۭاintentionally
- 5:95مُّتَعَمِّدًۭاintentionally
- 13:2عَمَدٍۢpillars
- 31:10عَمَدٍۢpillars
- 33:5تَعَمَّدَتْintended
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 70 Classical meanings
عَمَدَ
To stay, prop up, support, or place columns or props beneath something.
Used of a wall or another supported object.
- Lane · entry 4716
عَمَدَ
To strike or beat, especially with an iron weapon; also to strike the abdomen.
A distinct Form I verbal use.
- Lane · entry 4716
عَمَدَ
To intend, purpose, direct oneself toward, seek, aim at, or resort to someone or something.
The constructions عَمَدَ لَهُ, عَمَدَ إِلَيْهِ, and related transitive uses express directed purpose or recourse; doing something عَمْدًا adds earnest, certain intention.
- Lane · entry 4716
عَمَدَ
To press heavily upon, oppress, pain, cause to fall, or grieve.
Said of disease, confinement, straitness, captivity, or another afflicting condition.
- Lane · entry 4716
عَمِدَ
Of earth, to become moistened by rain and compacted, especially layer upon layer.
The moisture has sunk into the soil sufficiently for it to clump when grasped.
- Lane · entry 4716
عَمِدَ
To become swollen or internally damaged through pressure, injury, or premature squeezing.
Applied to a camel’s hump or buttocks and to a pustule; the same group of evidence also includes suffering pain.
- Lane · entry 4716
عَمِدَ
To become angry with someone.
A separate reported verbal use.
- Lane · entry 4716
أَعْمَدُ
In a disputed idiomatic expression, to wonder at something; alternatives reported include being angry at it or lamenting it.
The expression and its interpretation are explicitly reported as uncertain and disputed.
- Lane · entry 4716
عَمِدَ بِهِ
To keep to, cling to, or adhere to a thing.
A construction with بِهِ.
- Lane · entry 4716
عَمَّدَ
To stop or obstruct the course of a torrent so that its water collects in a place.
The obstruction may be made with earth, stones, or similar material.
- Lane · entry 4717
عَمَّدَ
To baptize someone.
A Christian technical use, reported as an Arabic or Syriac-derived term.
- Lane · entry 4717
أَعْمَدَ
To render someone dependent on support or unable to sit without being propped up.
Reported in a dialectal or traditional expression concerning the legs and a sick person.
- Lane · entry 4718
اِنْعَمَدَ
To become stayed, propped up, or supported.
Said of a wall or another thing that has become supported.
- Lane · entry 4720
اِعْتَمَدَ
To lean, recline, bear, or rest upon something; figuratively, to rely upon a person or a book.
The figurative sense develops from physical reliance or support.
- Lane · entry 4721
اِعْتَمَدَ
To be syntactically dependent upon what precedes.
A grammatical technical use, such as an epithet depending on its noun or an objective complement on its verb.
- Lane · entry 4721
اِعْتَمَدَ
Of rain, to rest upon and soak into the ground.
A reported construction describing rainfall settling into earth.
- Lane · entry 4721
اِعْتَمَدَ
To travel at a gentle pace, including to ride on during the night.
A travel-related use.
- Lane · entry 4721
اِعْتَمَدَ بِهِ
To direct oneself to someone with something, or bring that thing to him.
A construction with بِهِ.
- Lane · entry 4721
عَمَدٌ
A swelling with galls in the back of a camel.
A nominal use distinct from the verbal and plural-support uses.
- Lane · entry 4722
عَمِدٌ
Rain-moistened earth compacted into clumps or layers.
Applied to soil whose moisture has penetrated deeply.
- Lane · entry 4723
عَمِدٌ
In a reported expression, abundant in goodness, beneficence, or bounty.
The transmitted text is partially corrupted, but the lexical explanation is recoverable in outline.
- Lane · entry 4723
عَمِدٌ
Having a hump internally broken or swollen from riding or saddle injury; also swollen from premature squeezing, as of a pustule.
Applied principally to a camel or pustule; the poetic cloud comparison is illustrative rather than a separate sense.
- Lane · entry 4723
عُمْدَةٌ
A stay, prop, support, or object of reliance; a person or thing upon which another rests or depends.
May denote the support of an affair, a relied-upon person, or the mainstay of a people.
- Lane · entry 4724
عُمْدَةٌ
An indispensable member of a proposition.
A grammatical technical use, contrasted with a supplementary element.
- Lane · entry 4724
عُمْدَةٌ
An intention, purpose, aim, or chosen course.
Used in expressions meaning to keep to one’s intention or course.
- Lane · entry 4724
عِمْدَةٌ
The place that swells or becomes inflated in the hump and withers of a camel.
An anatomical camel term.
- Lane · entry 4725
عُمُدٌّ
A youthful person full of vigor; also a bulky, corpulent, and tall person.
The feminine form can describe a bulky woman.
- Lane · entry 4727
عُمُدَّانٌ
Tall, especially when applied to a man or woman.
A related descriptive form with feminine usage also attested.
- Lane · entry 4728
طَوِيلُ الْعِمَادِ
A man whose dwelling is a place known for its visitors.
A figurative expression based on the tent-pole image.
- Lane · entry 4730
رَفِيعُ الْعِمَادِ
A person of exalted nobility or high standing.
A figurative expression meaning literally one with a high pole of the tent of nobility.
- Lane · entry 4730
عَمُودٌ
A tent-pole, or a column or pillar of a house or similar structure.
The primary concrete noun; also used for a tent supported by poles.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودٌ
A lord, master, chief, or commander upon whom a people or army relies.
A figurative extension from the support provided by a pillar.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودٌ
A staff or stick.
A concrete extension of the pole meaning.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودٌ
An iron weapon, rod, or mace used for striking.
Distinct from the general staff or pole sense.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودٌ
A bar of iron or another metal.
A material-object use.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودٌ
A perpendicular or upright line or object.
A geometric or positional extension of uprightness.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودٌ
A slender, lofty mountain.
Attested in a poetic expression concerning an eagle’s nest.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ الْبِئْرِ
Either upright support of a well’s pulley structure.
The two uprights together are called the two supports.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ الظَّلِيمِ
Either leg of a male ostrich.
A conventional anatomical zoological term.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ الصَّلِيبِ
A star identified with the upright timber of the cross in the constellation Delphinus.
A traditional astronomical name.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ الْمِيزَانِ
The beam of a balance or steelyard.
A technical term for the horizontal balancing member.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ السَّيْفِ
The longitudinal ridge or raised line in the broad side of a sword.
A sword-making and weapon term.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ السِّنَانِ
The central ridge running along a spearhead between its cutting sides.
A technical weapon term.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ الْبَطْنِ
The back, or a central vein-like structure extending through the abdomen.
The term is variously applied to the back, the central abdominal structure, or a vein from the lower sternum toward the navel.
- Lane · entry 4731
حَمَلَهُ عَلَى عَمُودِ بَطْنِهِ
To carry something on one’s back; figuratively, to bear it with difficulty and fatigue.
An idiomatic use associated with the supporting function of the back.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ الْكَبِدِ
A central ligament, vein, or pair of large veins associated with the liver.
The anatomical referent varies among authorities.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ السَّحْرِ
The watīn, identified here with the aorta.
An anatomical designation based on the idea of support.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ الْأُذُنِ
The main supporting part of the ear, or its rounded upper portion above the lobe.
An anatomical term with variant explanations.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ الْقَلْبِ
The middle of the heart lengthwise, or a vein associated with it.
Also occurs in an expression meaning to place something in the center of one’s heart.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ اللِّسَانِ
The middle of the tongue lengthwise.
An anatomical term.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ الْكِتَابِ
The text or main body of a book.
A figurative use of the central supporting member.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ الصُّبْحِ
The bright, spreading gleam of true dawn.
The expression denotes the dawn that fills the horizon and begins the day.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ الْإِعْصَارِ
The dust raised or extended by a whirlwind.
A weather expression.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ الْحُسْنِ
Tallness of stature.
A figurative expression.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ النَّوَى
The state of distance from one’s friends in which travelers continue.
A figurative expression.
- Lane · entry 4731
دَائِرَةُ الْعَمُودِ
The curl or feather of hair on a horse’s neck near the collar.
A conventional equine term.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودُ الرَّأْيِ
The course or line of opinion upon which people continue to rely.
An idiomatic expression for maintaining a settled course.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمُودٌ
Affected with vehement or intense grief or sorrow.
A separate adjectival or nominal use reported in Lane.
- Lane · entry 4731
عَمِيدٌ
Sick or very sick, so that the person cannot sit without being propped up.
The condition is defined by dependence on cushions or other supports.
- Lane · entry 4732
عَمِيدٌ
Broken, enervated, or deeply distressed through love; also diseased or sick.
Applied to a person or heart; the imagery compares the condition with an internally broken camel’s hump.
- Lane · entry 4732
عَمِيدُ الْوَجَعِ
The place or focus of pain.
An anatomical or descriptive expression.
- Lane · entry 4732
عَامِدٌ
Causing pain, especially when applied to the latter part of the night.
Also used of a night that causes pain or distress.
- Lane · entry 4733
مُعْمَدٌ
A tall tent.
The source notes a possible textual confusion with مُعَمَّدٌ, but preserves the tall-tent interpretation.
- Lane · entry 4734
مُعَمَّدٌ
Set up with poles, especially said of a tent.
Also applied to a textile figured with the form of lofty buildings.
- Lane · entry 4735
وَشْيٌ مُعَمَّدٌ
A variegated cloth figured in the form of عِمَاد, understood here as lofty buildings.
A conventional textile description.
- Lane · entry 4735
مُعْمِدَانٌ
A baptist.
A Christian Arabic epithet and likely a borrowed technical term.
- Lane · entry 4736
مَعْمُودٌ
Held up or supported by columns, especially an object that presses heavily, such as a roof.
Explicitly distinguished from مَدْعُومٌ.
- Lane · entry 4737
مَعْمُودٌ
A person resorted to in cases of need.
A person treated as an object of reliance.
- Lane · entry 4737
الْمَعْمُودِيَةُ
Baptism, or the consecrated baptismal water used by Christians.
The water is described as consecrated by recitation from the Gospel and used for ritual immersion; the word’s Arabic or Syriac origin is disputed.
- Lane · entry 4738
مُعْتَمَدٌ
A ground, basis, or object of reliance.
Used of what gives a person or matter dependable support.
- Lane · entry 4739
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic expression إِرَمَ ذَاتِ الْعِمَادِ has multiple classical interpretations, including lofty buildings, tallness, or both.
The reported أَعْمَدُ idiom is explicitly uncertain and has competing interpretations.
Some non-Quranic Lane entries preserve technical, dialectal, anatomical, figurative, or possibly borrowed uses; these remain separate from Quran-attested meanings.