Quranic root
برص
b · r · ṣ
A contrasting spot or patch that differs in color from what surrounds it.
This principle develops into the meanings of leprosy and other marked discolorations, mottled or barren patches, the spotted moon, and shining or glistening appearance; related animal names reflect the same association with a leprous hue.
- Maqāyīs · row 739
- Mufradāt · row 114
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 1
- Quran senses
- 2
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
أَبْرَصُ
ʾabraṣu
- Part of speech
- Noun · substantivized adjective
- 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 person afflicted with leprosy; the leper.
Used substantively in the Quranic occurrences, in the definite form.
- Lane · entry 36111
- Mufradāt · row 114
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:49word 26
“and the leper”
Quran 5:110word 41
“and the leper”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 2 occurrencesBroader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 19 Classical meanings
بَرِصَ
To become affected with leprosy.
An intransitive Form I verb describing a person who becomes afflicted with the disease.
- Lane · entry 36099
بَرَّصَ رَأْسَهُ
To shave one's head.
A Form II verbal construction with the head as object.
- Lane · entry 36100
بَرَّصَ المَطَرُ الأَرْضَ
For rain to fall upon land before it has been ploughed or tilled.
A tropical Form II construction concerning rain and uncultivated land.
- Lane · entry 36100
أَبْرَصَ
To cause someone to become leprous, including by begetting a leprous child.
A causative Form IV verb.
- Lane · entry 36101
تَبَرَّصَ الأَرْضَ
To leave no pasture in a land; to depasture it completely.
A tropical Form V construction, especially of an animal seeking pasture.
- Lane · entry 36102
بَرْصٌ
A small reptile inhabiting a well.
A zoological noun distinguished by its vocalization from بُرْصٌ.
- Lane · entry 36103
بُرْصٌ
A gecko or lizard of a leprous hue.
A zoological noun identified with the species called وَزَغَةٌ.
- Lane · entry 36104
بَرَصٌ
Leprosy; a white discoloration appearing on the skin, or a white change in an animal caused by a bite.
The term may denote the disease itself or the resulting visible whiteness.
- Lane · entry 36105
بُرْصَةٌ
A white or distinct barren patch in sandy ground where nothing grows.
Used of portions of sand that differ from the surrounding ground; plural بِرَاصٌ.
- Lane · entry 36106
بُرْصَةٌ
A place where jinn alight; in the plural, such alighting-places.
A figurative or specialized plural use of بِرَاصٌ.
- Lane · entry 36106
بُرْصَةٌ
An opening in cloud or mist through which the face of the sky is visible.
A tropical description of a break in cloud or fog.
- Lane · entry 36106
بَرِيصٌ
Shining or glistening.
A descriptive adjective, comparable to بَصِيصٌ and بَرِيقٌ.
- Lane · entry 36108
- Mufradāt · row 114
بَرِيصٌ
A plant resembling cyperus.
A botanical noun said to grow in channels of running water.
- Lane · entry 36108
أَبُو بُرَيْصٍ
A bird also called بَلْعَةٌ.
A fixed bird name, distinct from the diminutive use of بُرَيْصٌ.
- Lane · entry 36109
بَرِيصَةٌ
A small reptile, smaller than a gecko, whose bite is said not to be cured.
A zoological noun for a particularly harmful small reptile.
- Lane · entry 36110
سَامُّ أَبْرَصَ
A gecko or lizard, especially one of the large kinds of gecko.
A fixed generic appellation; the term also occurs in variant grammatical forms.
- Lane · entry 36111
الأَبْرَصُ
The moon.
A figurative designation based on its mottled or spotted appearance.
- Lane · entry 36111
- Mufradāt · row 114
حَيَّةٌ بَرْصَاءُ
A serpent whose skin has white patches distinct from its general color.
An adjectival description of a marked or mottled serpent.
- Lane · entry 36111
أَرْضٌ بَرْصَاءُ
Land bare of herbage, especially where grazing has left some places exposed.
A tropical adjectival construction describing patchy loss of vegetation.
- Lane · entry 36111
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic surface form is أَبْرَصَ, while the public headword is normalized to the citation form أَبْرَصُ; in these verses it functions substantively as “the leper.”