Quranic root
عسر
ʿ · s · r
The root centers on difficulty, severity, and constrained or intricate circumstances, in contrast with ease.
From this core notion, the lexical field extends to poverty or limited means, opposition and harsh dealing, reciprocal difficulty, entanglement, difficult childbirth, refractory animals, and certain left-sided usages. These extensions are lexical developments, not automatic meanings of every Quranic form.
- Maqāyīs · row 3204
- Mufradāt · row 974
- 6
- Quran-attested forms
- 7
- Quran senses
- 12
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
تَعَاسَرَ
taʿāsara
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VI
- Form
- VI
- 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 be mutually difficult or harsh; to disagree or make a matter difficult for one another.
A reciprocal construction, used of parties such as a buyer and seller or a husband and wife. In the Quranic usage, it describes mutual difficulty in arranging an affair.
- Lane · entry 3197
- Mufradāt · row 974
Selected Quran examples
Quran 65:6word 29
“you disagree”
عَسِرٌ
ʿasirun
- Part of speech
- Adjective
- 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.
Difficult, hard, distressing, or intricate.
An adjective applied to an affair, thing, or circumstance that is hard to accomplish or endure.
- Lane · entry 3204
- Mufradāt · row 974
Selected Quran examples
Quran 54:8word 8
“difficult”
عَسِيرٌ
ʿasīrun
- Part of speech
- Adjective
- 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.
Difficult, hard, distressing, or intricate.
An adjective for a difficult affair, thing, day, or circumstance; the Quranic day-usage denotes a day on which matters become difficult or distressing.
- Lane · entry 3204
- Mufradāt · row 974
Selected Quran examples
Quran 25:26word 9
“difficult”
Quran 74:9word 4
“difficult”
عُسْرٌ
ʿusrun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 5 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.
Difficulty, hardship, straitness, or an intricate burden; the opposite of ease.
A general noun for difficult circumstances or what is hard to bear or accomplish. It can occur in contrast with يُسْرٌ and in constructions describing hardship accompanying or following another condition.
- Lane · entry 3201
- Mufradāt · row 974
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:185word 35
“[the] hardship”
Quran 18:73word 10
“(raising) difficulty”
Quran 94:5word 3
“the hardship”
Quran 94:6word 3
“the hardship”
عُسْرَةٌ
ʿusrahun
- Part of speech
- 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.
Financial difficulty; lack of means or wealth.
Used of a person or situation in which money or resources are difficult to obtain, especially in the context of a debt or financial obligation.
- Lane · entry 3201
- Mufradāt · row 974
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:280word 4
“in difficulty”
A state or period of hardship.
A conventional expression for difficult circumstances or a difficult period, including the Quranic reference to a time of hardship.
- Lane · entry 3201
- Mufradāt · row 974
Selected Quran examples
Quran 9:117word 12
“(of) difficulty”
عُسْرَىٰ
ʿusrāā
- 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.
The difficult course or condition, contrasted with ease.
A feminine nominal form used with the preposition لِـ in the Quranic expression meaning toward or into difficulty.
- Lane · entry 3201
Selected Quran examples
Quran 92:10word 2
“towards [the] difficulty”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:185ٱلْعُسْرَ[the] hardship
- 2:280عُسْرَةٍۢin difficulty
- 9:117ٱلْعُسْرَةِ(of) difficulty
- 18:73عُسْرًۭا(raising) difficulty
- 25:26عَسِيرًۭاdifficult
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 24 Classical meanings
عَسُرَ مَا فِي البَطْنِ
To be obstructed in passing out, referring to what is in the belly.
A bodily-function construction describing contents that will not come forth.
- Lane · entry 3192
عَسُرَ / عَسِرٌ
To be hard, ungentle, or ill-natured in dealing with affairs.
Applied to a person or disposition characterized by little gentleness, harshness, or narrowness of temperament.
- Lane · entry 3192
- Lane · entry 3204
عَسُرَ عَلَيْهِ
To act adversely toward, oppose, or straiten someone.
A transitive construction describing opposition or making matters difficult for another person.
- Lane · entry 3192
عَسُرَ الزَّمَانُ
To become severe, rigorous, afflictive, or adverse.
Said of time or fortune when it turns harsh toward someone.
- Lane · entry 3192
نَاقَةٌ عَسِرٌ / عَسِيرٌ
A camel that is untrained or difficult to manage.
Especially a she-camel ridden or laden before training, or taken during the first stage of training.
- Lane · entry 3192
- Lane · entry 3204
عَسَرَتِ النَّاقَةُ / عَاسِرٌ
Of a camel, to raise its tail while running or after conception.
The usage can describe a camel signaling after conception or displaying spirited or refractory movement while running.
- Lane · entry 3192
- Lane · entry 3204
عَسَرَ الغَرِيمَ / مِعْسَرٌ
To press an insolvent debtor for payment, refusing to defer collection until ease; a creditor who does this.
A debt-collection construction in which payment is difficult for the debtor.
- Lane · entry 3192
- Lane · entry 3214
عَسَرَهُ / اعْتَسَرَهُ
To force or compel someone against his or her will.
The usage includes compelling someone to do an act and taking property against the owner's wish.
- Lane · entry 3192
- Lane · entry 3198
أَعْسَرُ / العَسْرَاءُ
Left-handed; one whose principal strength or use is in the left hand.
The feminine form can also denote the left hand or arm. The usage concerns bodily sidedness, not difficulty.
- Lane · entry 3192
- Lane · entry 3213
عَسَرَنِي
To come upon or approach someone from the right side.
A specialized verbal construction with a personal object.
- Lane · entry 3192
عَاسَرَهُ
To treat or behave toward someone with hardness, harshness, or ill nature.
The Form III verbal noun مُعَاسَرَةٌ is presented as the contrary of مُيَاسَرَةٌ.
- Lane · entry 3194
أَعْسَرَ
To enter a state of difficulty, become poor, or lose property.
Describes a person who passes from means or prosperity into financial difficulty or reduced power.
- Lane · entry 3195
أَعْسَرَتِ المَرْأَةُ / أَعْسَرَتِ النَّاقَةُ
To experience difficulty in childbirth.
Used of a woman in labor or of a camel whose young is difficult to deliver.
- Lane · entry 3195
أَعْسَرَتِ النَّاقَةُ
Of a camel, to fail to conceive during the year after mating.
This is a specialized camel-breeding usage and is distinguished from difficulty in managing or riding the animal.
- Lane · entry 3195
- Lane · entry 3204
تَعَسَّرَ
Of spun thread, to become entangled so that it cannot be unraveled.
A specialized application reported with disagreement about whether this sense should instead be expressed by تَغَسَّرَ with غين.
- Lane · entry 3196
اعْتَسَرَ النَّاقَةَ
To ride a she-camel before it has been trained.
The construction refers to taking and riding a camel while it remains difficult to manage.
- Lane · entry 3198
اعْتَسَرَ الكَلَامَ
To utter speech without prior preparation or deliberate formulation.
A figurative Form VIII usage describing speech produced without measuring or preparing it in the mind.
- Lane · entry 3198
اسْتَعْسَرَهُ
To seek, desire, or demand something in which one experiences or expects difficulty.
A Form X construction focused on seeking or demanding a difficult matter.
- Lane · entry 3199
عُسْرٌ
Poverty, scant possessions, or limited wealth or power.
A Classical specialization of the hardship field, distinct from the general Quranic noun sense of difficulty.
- Lane · entry 3201
مَعْسُورٌ
Something difficult for a person, or a portion or circumstance in which someone experiences difficulty.
In an idiomatic contrast with مَيْسُورٌ, it may describe what is difficult for someone or behavior that treats someone harshly rather than gently.
- Lane · entry 3201
عِسْرٌ
A named tribe of jinn or a land inhabited by jinn.
This is a separate noun distinguished by its vocalization and lexical identity.
- Lane · entry 3202
أَعْسَرُ
More or most difficult, hard, strait, or intricate.
A comparative adjective applied to a thing, affair, circumstance, or difficult day; it is also used of an unfortunate day.
- Lane · entry 3213
أَعْسَرُ يَسَرٌ
Ambidextrous; able to use both hands alike.
A fixed descriptive expression, distinct from the ordinary sense of أَعْسَرُ as left-handed.
- Lane · entry 3213
أَعْسَرُ / عَسْرَاءُ
Characterized by a predominance or distinguishing feature on the left side, especially in a bird's wing or feathers.
Applied to pigeons, eagles, or feathers when the left-side primary feathers are more numerous or white.
- Lane · entry 3213
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The public verb headword تَعَاسَرَ is normalized from the Quranic inflected form تَعَاسَرْتُمْ to the standard perfect citation form.
The specialized thread usage of تَعَسَّرَ is reported with disagreement over whether the form should instead be تَغَسَّرَ; it is retained as a Classical usage rather than treated as certain Quranic evidence.
One Lane citation under عُسْرٌ interprets فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ as leading to punishment or a difficult case, but that cited expression belongs to يسر and no corresponding QAC form is supplied here.
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
lane-unit:Esr:3201:g1:sub8 materially discusses the interpretation of فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ, but it cannot be assigned confidently to a supplied Quranic form of the root عسر because the cited expression is from the contrasting root يسر.