Quranic root
طمع
ṭ · m · ʿ
A strong inward hope or desire directed toward a thing.
The root develops from powerful expectation and longing into eager coveting, hoping for an outcome, and related causative, adjectival, and object-noun formations.
- Maqāyīs · row 3062
- Mufradāt · row 913
- 2
- Quran-attested forms
- 4
- 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.
طَمِعَ
ṭamiʿa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 8 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 desire, long for, or covet something eagerly.
Describes a strong inclination toward a desired thing. The emphasis may fall on eager wanting rather than on the expectation that the thing will actually be obtained.
- Lane · entry 11752
- Mufradāt · row 913
Selected Quran examples
Quran 74:15word 2
“he desires”
To hope for or expect a desired outcome.
Commonly used with a following event or goal, including constructions with أَنْ. It can refer to an outcome regarded as relatively near or possible, though that is not an absolute restriction.
- Lane · entry 11752
- Mufradāt · row 913
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:75word 1
“Do you hope”
Quran 26:51word 2
“hope”
To lust after or be moved by sexual desire.
A context-specific use of eager desire. In the Quranic construction involving speech that may awaken desire, the sense is sexual, but the lexical construction itself is described neutrally and is not restricted to a particular gender or object class.
- Lane · entry 11752
Selected Quran examples
Quran 33:32word 12
“lest should be moved with desire”
طَمَعٌ
ṭamaʿun
- 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.
Hope or eager desire for a desired outcome.
An abstract noun describing hopeful longing, especially when paired with fear or used of an anticipated benefit, relief, or fulfillment.
- Mufradāt · row 913
Selected Quran examples
Quran 7:56word 9
“and hope”
Quran 13:12word 6
“and a hope”
Quran 30:24word 6
“and hope”
Quran 32:16word 8
“and hope”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:75۞ أَفَتَطْمَعُونَDo you hope
- 5:84وَنَطْمَعُAnd we hope
- 7:46يَطْمَعُونَhope
- 7:56وَطَمَعًا ۚand hope
- 13:12وَطَمَعًۭاand a hope
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
طَمِعَ
To covet and strive to acquire, obtain, or attain something; to hope to gain mastery over or overcome someone.
The construction طَمِعَ فِي may take a person or thing as its object and can express eager pursuit, hoped-for possession, or attempted mastery.
- Lane · entry 11752
طَمُعَ
To become very covetous.
Also attested as an expressive verb of wonder in the cited grammatical pattern.
- Lane · entry 11752
أَطْمَعَ
To make someone covet or desire something.
The object is the person whose desire is aroused; the verb may be followed by فِي, and apparently also بِ, before the desired object.
- Lane · entry 11754
تَطَمَّعَ
To become intensely desirous or lustful.
The cited construction describes becoming excited by eager desire; the example does not establish a general restriction on the object.
- Lane · entry 11755
طَمَعٌ
Coveting, covetousness, or greed.
An abstract noun for acquisitive or excessive desire, distinct from the Quranic use emphasizing hopeful expectation.
- Lane · entry 11756
طَمَعٌ
A thing that is coveted or vehemently desired.
A nominal use referring to the desired object rather than to the state of desiring.
- Lane · entry 11756
طَمَعٌ
A soldier’s allowance of food, subsistence money, or pay; by extension, the times at which such allowances are received.
A specialized plural usage in أَطْمَاعٌ.
- Lane · entry 11756
طَمُعٌ، طَمِعٌ، طَامِعٌ، طَمَّاعٌ، طَمُوعٌ
Covetous or desirous; in some forms, very or habitually covetous.
These are adjectival epithets derived from طَمِعَ, with some forms functioning as intensified descriptions.
- Lane · entry 11758
أَطْمَعُ
More or most covetous.
A comparative or superlative adjective, also used in the cited proverbial expression.
- Lane · entry 11762
تَطْمِيعٌ
The first slight rain at the beginning of a rainfall, when only a little has fallen and it makes one desire more.
A specialized or figurative noun named for the desire that the initial rain arouses for further rain.
- Lane · entry 11763
مَظْمَعٌ
A thing coveted or vehemently desired; an object of aspiration.
The plural is مَطَامِعُ. The word may also describe an attainment whose prospect is remote or improbable.
- Lane · entry 11764
مَظْمَعٌ
A hope or hoped-for prospect.
It can be used as an abstract noun in expressions such as hoping for a cure, including when the prospect is unlikely.
- Lane · entry 11764
مَظْمَعٌ
A bird placed within a fowler’s net to lure and ensnare other birds.
A specialized transferred use based on the bird’s function as an object that arouses desire or attraction.
- Lane · entry 11764
مَطْمَعَةٌ
A cause of coveting or intense desire; something on account of which one desires.
The noun denotes the occasion or object that stimulates desire, not the desire itself.
- Lane · entry 11765
مِطْمَاعٌ
A woman who arouses intense desire but does not grant fulfillment.
A lexical description of a woman whose attractiveness or conduct excites desire without allowing attainment.
- Lane · entry 11766
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic verb group consists of imperfect active Form I occurrences; the public headword is normalized to the classical perfect citation form طَمِعَ.
Hope, eager desire, and coveting overlap semantically, but context determines whether expectation or strong wanting is foregrounded. The sexual sense is specifically contextual and should not be projected onto every occurrence.
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
The Form II headword طَمَّعَ is listed only through pointer text in the supplied Lane units; no standalone definition for that form is securely recoverable, so it is not asserted as a separate classical meaning.