Quranic root
صوم
ṣ · w · m
The root centers on withholding or restraint, and on remaining still in place.
From abstaining from an act—especially eating, drinking, speaking, or travelling—the root develops the religious sense of fasting and several Classical extensions involving stillness, stationary objects, and standing-places.
- Maqāyīs · row 2867
- Mufradāt · row 860
- 4
- Quran-attested forms
- 4
- Quran senses
- 14
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
صَامَ
ṣāma
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- 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 fast; to abstain from food and drink and, in the prescribed ritual formulation, from sexual intercourse.
The Quranic Form I imperfect occurrences concern fasting, including fasting during the Ramadan period. The broader absolute sense of refraining from an act is Classical Arabic usage and is listed separately.
- Lane · entry 26936
- Mufradāt · row 860
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:184word 27
“fast”
Quran 2:185word 17
“then he should fast in it”
صَوْم
ṣawm
- Part of speech
- Verbal 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.
Abstention from speech; silence, specifically the abstention vowed in the Quranic construction صَوْمًا.
In the Maryam passage, this usage is interpreted in connection with the following declaration not to speak. It is distinct from the ordinary food-and-drink fasting sense.
- Lane · entry 26936
- Mufradāt · row 860
Selected Quran examples
Quran 19:26word 14
“a fast”
صِيَام
ṣiyām
- Part of speech
- Verbal noun
- Quran occurrences
- 9 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.
Fasting; the prescribed observance of abstaining from food and drink and, in the legal formulation, from sexual intercourse.
Used for prescribed fasting and for compensatory or expiatory fasts in Quranic legal constructions.
- Lane · entry 26936
- Mufradāt · row 860
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:183word 6
“[the] fasting”
Quran 4:92word 51
“then fasting”
Quran 5:89word 29
“(that), then fasting”
Quran 58:4word 4
“then fasting”
صَائِم
ṣāʾim
- 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.
One who fasts; a person characterized by fasting.
The Quran attests masculine and feminine plural forms of the active participle; they are presented here under the singular dictionary citation form.
- Lane · entry 26943
Selected Quran examples
Quran 33:35word 16
“and the men who fast”
Quran 33:35word 17
“and the women who fast”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:183ٱلصِّيَامُ[the] fasting
- 2:184تَصُومُوا۟fast
- 2:185فَلْيَصُمْهُ ۖthen he should fast in it
- 2:187ٱلصِّيَامِ(of) fasting
- 2:187ٱلصِّيَامَthe fast
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 15 Classical meanings
صَامَ
To refrain or hold back from an act; in absolute usage, to withhold from eating, speaking, or travelling, or to remain without work.
General or non-technical usage, distinct from the prescribed ritual sense of fasting.
- Lane · entry 26936
صَامَ
Of a horse, to stand still, especially without eating fodder.
An extended use applied specifically to a horse.
- Lane · entry 26936
- Lane · entry 26943
صَامَ
To become stationary or still: of the sun at full height, the day at midday, the wind, or water.
Tropical or assumed-tropical applications to celestial, temporal, and natural phenomena.
- Lane · entry 26936
صَامَ
Of an ostrich or domestic fowl, to cast forth dung.
A specialized Classical usage associated with the stillness accompanying the act.
- Lane · entry 26936
صَامَ
To taste or experience one's death.
An idiomatic Classical expression.
- Lane · entry 26936
صَامَ
To shade oneself by means of the tree called صَوْم.
A specialized lexical use tied to the named tree.
- Lane · entry 26936
صَوْم
By metonymy, Ramadan, the month of fasting.
A time-name usage, as in remaining for or passing two Ramadans.
- Lane · entry 26938
صَوْم
A Christian church, understood as a place of fasting or religious station.
A tropical or assumed-tropical noun usage.
- Lane · entry 26938
صَوْم
The dung of an ostrich.
A specialized noun usage corresponding to the related verb application.
- Lane · entry 26938
صَوْم / صَوْمَة
In the dialect of Hudhayl, a certain tree or group of trees.
A dialectal botanical usage; the singular may occur with the feminine ending صَوْمَة.
- Lane · entry 26938
صَوَام
Dry land or ground in which there is no water.
Used in the expression أَرْضٌ صَوَامٌ.
- Lane · entry 26941
صَوَّام
A habitual or intensive faster or abstainer; one who fasts often.
An intensive derivative of the participial fasting sense, often paired with frequent night prayer.
- Lane · entry 26942
صَائِم
An abstainer; one who refrains generally, including from food, speech, or travelling.
Absolute and extended Classical usage of the active participle, apart from the specifically Quranic fasting use.
- Lane · entry 26943
صَائِم
Still or motionless, as of a horse, a pulley sheave, or water.
An extended adjectival use applied to things that remain stationary.
- Lane · entry 26943
مَصَام
A station or standing-place; also a place where an astral body is suspended or where the sun is at mid-heaven.
Used for a horse's standing-place and, by extension, for the apparent station of the Pleiades or the sun.
- Lane · entry 26944
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic صَوْم in Maryam 19:26 carries the specifically attested sense of abstention from speech, distinct from ritual food-and-drink fasting. The modern example location follows the supplied QAC occurrence rather than treating a historical printed citation as a modern verse reference.