Quranic root
صنم
ṣ · n · m
A made material object fashioned for worship, especially an idol or image.
The concrete sense of a manufactured worshipped object is extended in Quran-focused interpretation to anything that diverts a person from God.
- Maqāyīs · row 2849
- Mufradāt · row 852
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 5
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
صَنَم
ṣanam
- Part of speech
- Noun · Quranic plural أَصْنَام
- 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 fabricated idol: a material object or image made from substances such as wood, stone, silver, copper, or other metal and worshipped.
The Quranic plural أَصْنَام refers to concrete objects of idolatrous worship. Classical descriptions differ over the precise material or form of an idol.
- Lane · entry 26710
- Mufradāt · row 852
Selected Quran examples
Quran 6:74word 7
“idols”
Quran 21:57word 3
“(against) your idols”
Anything that diverts a person from God or occupies the person in place of devotion to Him.
An explicitly reported figurative interpretation of the idols in Abraham's prayer at 14:35; this extends the term beyond physical statues and does not replace the concrete idol sense in other passages.
- Mufradāt · row 852
Selected Quran examples
Quran 14:35word 13
“the idols”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 6:74أَصْنَامًاidols
- 7:138أَصْنَامٍۢidols
- 14:35ٱلْأَصْنَامَthe idols
- 21:57أَصْنَـٰمَكُم(against) your idols
- 26:71أَصْنَامًۭاidols
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 4 Classical meanings
صَنَّمَ
To form, fashion, figure, shape, sculpt, or picture.
Form II verb; its verbal noun is تَصْنِيمٌ.
- Lane · entry 26709
صَنَمَةٌ
A calamity.
A reported variant of صَلَمَةٌ.
- Lane · entry 26711
صَنَمَةٌ
A dial.
A reported variant of صَلَمَةٌ.
- Lane · entry 26711
صَنَمَةٌ
The quill or shaft of a feather.
Applied to the shaft of any feather.
- Lane · entry 26711
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
Classical authorities give differing criteria for distinguishing صَنَمٌ from وَثَنٌ, including material, shape, and corporeality; the concrete idol sense states their shared lexical core.
Lane's historical Quran citation in the idol entry is not used as a modern verse location; the example at 14:35 is located independently by QAC and the Quran-focused evidence.