Quranic root
حرب
ḥ · r · b
The root has three principal lexical axes: deprivation or spoliation, the chameleon and related forms, and the elevated or chief part of a room or assembly.
The war sense is associated with deprivation or plunder, while the chameleon and architectural senses are treated as distinct lexical branches rather than as direct extensions of every Quranic form.
- Maqāyīs · row 1326
- Mufradāt · row 306
- 3
- Quran-attested forms
- 4
- Quran senses
- 11
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
حَارَبَ
ḥāraba
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form III
- Form
- III
- 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.
To wage war against, fight, or contend with.
A reciprocal or oppositional construction; in the Quran it includes the construction of waging war against God and His Messenger.
- Lane · entry 13977
Selected Quran examples
Quran 5:33word 4
“wage war”
Quran 9:107word 11
“warred”
حَرْب
ḥarb
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 4 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.
War, battle, fighting, or armed conflict.
Used for conflict between parties and in the construction of war being declared or imposed by an opposing party.
- Lane · entry 13982
- Mufradāt · row 306
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:279word 5
“of a war”
Quran 47:4word 19
“the war”
مِحْرَاب
miḥrāb
- 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.
A prayer chamber, sanctuary, mosque niche, or place of worship.
In Quranic usage, the term denotes a designated devotional or worship-related chamber or place; the plural refers to such places collectively.
- Lane · entry 13998
- Mufradāt · row 306
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:37word 14
“[the] prayer chamber”
Quran 3:39word 7
“the prayer chamber”
Quran 19:11word 5
“the prayer chamber”
An elevated chamber or prominent room.
This sense covers Quranic references to a high or distinguished chamber, including the plural مَحَارِيب.
- Lane · entry 13998
- Mufradāt · row 306
Selected Quran examples
Quran 38:21word 7
“(of) the chamber”
Quran 34:13word 6
“elevated chambers”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:279بِحَرْبٍۢof a war
- 3:37ٱلْمِحْرَابَ[the] prayer chamber
- 3:39ٱلْمِحْرَابِthe prayer chamber
- 5:33يُحَارِبُونَwage war
- 5:64لِّلْحَرْبِof [the] war
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 41 Classical meanings
حَرَبَهُ
To despoil or plunder someone of wealth or property.
The passive forms describe being deprived or left without property.
- Lane · entry 13975
حُرِبَ
To be deprived of one's religion or rendered an unbeliever.
A figurative extension of deprivation applied to religious condition.
- Lane · entry 13975
وَا حَرَبَا
An ejaculation of grief, lamentation, regret, or loss.
Used absolutely as an exclamation, especially in expressions of bereavement or calamity.
- Lane · entry 13975
- Lane · entry 13983
حَرِبَ
To become angry or violently angry; of an enemy, to become fierce or lion-like.
The lion-like description is figurative and expresses ferocity rather than a separate animal sense.
- Lane · entry 13975
- Lane · entry 13984
حَرَّبَ
To sharpen a spearhead.
A Form II transitive use.
- Lane · entry 13976
حَرَّبَ
To anger, provoke, or exasperate someone.
A Form II causative use; the sense of acquainting someone with an angering matter is reported as a disputed reading and is not separately asserted here.
- Lane · entry 13976
حَارَبَهُ
To be hostile or act as an enemy toward someone.
A broader hostility sense distinct from the direct sense of waging battle.
- Lane · entry 13977
حَارَبَهُ
To disobey God.
A specialized lexical use reported for the object referring to God.
- Lane · entry 13977
أَحْرَبَ
To excite, provoke, or stir up war.
A Form IV causative use with war as the object.
- Lane · entry 13978
أَحْرَبَهُ
To guide or show someone the way to obtain plunder, acting as a spy or informant.
A Form IV causative construction involving an enemy's spoil.
- Lane · entry 13978
أَحْرَبَهُ
To find someone despoiled or deprived of property.
A Form IV resultative use.
- Lane · entry 13978
تَحَارَبُوا
To wage war or battle one another.
A reciprocal Form VI construction; the related Form VIII is cross-referenced to this branch.
- Lane · entry 13979
اُحْتُرِبَ
To be wholly plundered, taken, or carried off.
A passive Form VIII resultative use.
- Lane · entry 13980
حَرَب
Spoliation, loss, or deprivation of property.
This is the verbal-noun branch associated with being despoiled and is distinct from the noun حَرْب meaning warfare.
- Lane · entry 13983
- Mufradāt · row 306
حَرَب
Perdition, destruction, or death.
A rare Classical Arabic nominal use.
- Lane · entry 13983
حَرِبٌ
Affected with canine madness.
A rare lexical use, reported as synonymous with كَلِبٌ and not merely as ordinary anger.
- Lane · entry 13984
حَرْبَةٌ
A short, broad-headed spear, dart, or javelin.
A weapon resembling a spear but smaller and not classed among ordinary spears.
- Lane · entry 13985
حَرْبَةٌ
A thrust, stick, or stab.
A separate nominal use from the weapon name.
- Lane · entry 13985
حَرْبَةٌ
Spoliation.
A rare abstract use of this headword.
- Lane · entry 13985
حَرْبَةٌ
Corruptness of religion.
A rare figurative or abstract use.
- Lane · entry 13985
حَرْبَةٌ
A name for Friday.
A specialized traditional designation.
- Lane · entry 13985
حِرْبَةٌ
A mode or manner of war, battle, fighting, or conflict.
This is a manner or method of warfare, not the general noun for war.
- Lane · entry 13986
حِرْبَاءٌ
The chameleon, especially the male chameleon, a sun-facing reptile.
The term may also be used for the related animal designation and has a plural حَرَابِيّ.
- Lane · entry 13987
- Mufradāt · row 306
حِرْبَاءُ المَتْنِ
The ridge of the backbone or the flesh along either side of it.
A figurative anatomical use, named by resemblance to the chameleon.
- Lane · entry 13987
حِرْبَاءٌ
A nail, or the nails, of a coat of mail.
The term may refer specifically to the head of a nail in a ring of mail.
- Lane · entry 13987
حِرْبَاءٌ
Rugged or hard ground.
A rare and disputed lexical attribution, distinct from the commonly known form with زاي.
- Lane · entry 13987
حَرِيبٌ
Despoiled or plundered of wealth and left without property.
An adjective or passive description of the person deprived.
- Lane · entry 13988
حَرِيبَةٌ
A woman deprived of her child or children.
A specialized application of deprivation to bereaved motherhood.
- Lane · entry 13988
حَرِيبٌ
Deprived of religion or rendered an unbeliever.
A figurative religious application of the passive deprivation sense.
- Lane · entry 13988
حَرِيبَةٌ
Property or wealth by which a person lives and subsists, especially property of which its owner has been despoiled.
The term may refer to livelihood property generally or specifically to property after its loss.
- Lane · entry 13991
حَرَّابَةٌ
A troop or band of plunderers.
A collective designation for raiders.
- Lane · entry 13993
حَارِبٌ
One who forcibly strips people of their clothes.
A specialized traditional-use meaning of the active participle.
- Lane · entry 13994
مُحَرْبِئَةٌ
Land containing or abounding in chameleons.
Used attributively of land.
- Lane · entry 13996
المُحَرَّبُ
A lion.
A substantivized descriptive use.
- Lane · entry 13997
مِحْرَبٌ
A brave, capable person who undertakes and manages the affairs of war.
A derived nominal distinct in form from مِحْرَاب, the chamber.
- Mufradāt · row 306
مِحْرَابٌ
The uppermost or most honored sitting place, a ruler's private chamber, or a distinguished place of assembly.
The broader architectural and social uses include a high room, a chamber reached by stairs, and a place reserved for chiefs or great men.
- Lane · entry 13998
مِحْرَابٌ
A thicket or haunt of a lion.
A rare nominal use distinct from the chamber and worship senses.
- Lane · entry 13998
مِحْرَابٌ
The neck of a beast.
A rare anatomical use.
- Lane · entry 13998
حَرْبٌ
A warlike, courageous, or experienced warrior.
Used as an epithet for a man, woman, or group vehement or experienced in war; the form remains unchanged for masculine and feminine, singular and plural.
- Lane · entry 13982
دَارُ الحَرْبِ
The country or territory of unbelievers or polytheists who are not at peace with the Muslims.
A conventional legal and social expression for a place whose inhabitants are regarded as being in a state of war with the Muslims.
- Lane · entry 13982
حَرْبٌ
An enemy or one opposed to another, whether or not actually at war.
Used in constructions describing one person as the enemy of another.
- Lane · entry 13982
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic noun مِحْرَاب covers both worship-related and elevated-chamber contexts; contextual translations should not collapse these into one mandatory architectural interpretation.
The plural Quranic form مَحَارِيب is accounted for under the singular dictionary citation مِحْرَاب.