Quranic root
عيش
ʿ · y · sh
The root denotes life and continuance, and its derivatives describe the condition, means, place, or time of living.
The basic notion of life extends to a lived condition and to whatever sustains life, including livelihood, subsistence, and the time or place in which sustenance is pursued.
- Maqāyīs · row 3358
- 3
- Quran-attested forms
- 4
- Quran senses
- 8
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
عِيشَة
ʿīshah
- 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.
A state, quality, or mode of life.
In the Quranic contexts, the expression describes a pleasing or satisfactory life; the form is a noun of the condition in which life is lived.
- Lane · entry 5490
- Mufradāt · row 1031
Selected Quran examples
Quran 69:21word 3
“a life”
Quran 101:7word 3
“a life”
مَعَاش
maʿāsh
- 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.
A time or setting in which subsistence is pursued; in the Quranic usage, the daytime as a period for seeking livelihood.
The noun can denote a setting of subsistence more generally, while the Quranic construction presents the day as the time allotted for livelihood.
- Lane · entry 5493
Selected Quran examples
Quran 78:11word 3
“(for) livelihood”
مَعِيشَة
maʿīshah
- 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.
The means, provisions, or resources by which one lives; livelihood or subsistence.
The entry includes the Quranic singular and its plural مَعَايِش. The means of living may consist of sustenance, provisions, earnings, or other resources that support life.
- Lane · entry 5495
- Mufradāt · row 1031
Selected Quran examples
Quran 28:58word 6
“(in) its means of livelihood”
Quran 43:32word 8
“their livelihood”
Quran 7:10word 8
“livelihood”
Quran 15:20word 4
“means of living”
A state or condition of living; in the expression مَعِيشَةً ضَنْكًا, a straitened or constrained life.
The Quranic construction denotes hardship or constriction in one's mode of living. Its interpretation has also been reported as the punishment of the grave or as strait sustenance in Hell.
- Lane · entry 5495
Selected Quran examples
Quran 20:124word 7
“(is) a life”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 7:10مَعَـٰيِشَ ۗlivelihood
- 15:20مَعَـٰيِشَmeans of living
- 20:124مَعِيشَةًۭ(is) a life
- 28:58مَعِيشَتَهَا ۖ(in) its means of livelihood
- 43:32مَّعِيشَتَهُمْtheir livelihood
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 11 Classical meanings
عَاشَ
To live; to pass one's life in a particular state; to become possessed of life.
Form I verb describing existence or the manner in which life is passed.
- Lane · entry 5483
عَايَشَ
To live with another or associate with him.
A transitive co-living construction, equivalent in the cited evidence to living together with someone.
- Lane · entry 5485
أَعَاشَ
To cause or enable someone to live.
A causative transitive verb; it may describe granting or providing life and the means to live.
- Lane · entry 5486
تَعَيَّشَ
To constrain oneself to obtain the means of life, or to live on barely sufficient sustenance.
Describes subsistence with little or nothing remaining beyond what is needed.
- Lane · entry 5487
تَعَايَشَ
To live together with mutual sociability and affection.
A reciprocal construction describing co-existence and harmonious association.
- Lane · entry 5488
عَيْش
Life; in some usage, especially animal life.
Used as a substantive as well as an infinitive noun; the qualification 'especially animal life' is a lexical specification reported in the evidence, not an absolute restriction on every occurrence.
- Lane · entry 5489
عَيْش
Food or staple produce by which one lives, including wheat, other grain, or bread.
A dialectally marked food sense, with regional associations reported variously for the Hijaz, Yemen, and Egypt.
- Lane · entry 5489
مَعَاش
That by which one lives, or the place of subsistence.
The noun may denote the usual or known place of subsistence as well as the means by which subsistence is obtained; the Quranic time-of-subsistence use is listed separately under the Quranic form.
- Lane · entry 5493
عَائِش
Living or possessing life.
An active participial adjective describing one who is alive or living.
- Lane · entry 5492
عَائِش
Living well or being in a good state or condition of life.
Can carry the additional nuance of having ample means of living or being well provided for.
- Lane · entry 5492
مُتَعَيِّش
One who constrains himself to obtain the means of life or has only barely sufficient sustenance.
An active participial description of a person subsisting without surplus.
- Lane · entry 5496
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The public entry مَعِيشَة combines the Quranic singular with its Quranic plural مَعَايِش, which is normalized under the singular citation form.
The expression مَعِيشَةً ضَنْكًا has more than one reported interpretation, including a straitened life or subsistence and exegetical readings connected with the punishment of the grave or strait sustenance in Hell.