Quranic root
دري
d · r · y
The non-hamz root is organized around directed pursuit or deliberate aiming and, in another branch, sharpness; from directed, attentive discernment develop meanings of knowing, tactical observation, and related instruments.
Classical analysis connects knowledge with discerning or finding something through attention, skill, or artifice. The sharpness branch yields terms for pointed grooming and hunting instruments, while hamz-bearing forms belong to a distinct push or repulsion root and are not treated as meanings of this Quranic root.
- Maqāyīs · row 1749
- Mufradāt · row 469
- 2
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 29
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
دَرَى
darā
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 12 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 know, be aware of, or have knowledge of something.
Used with a direct object or with بِ. Classical descriptions can emphasize knowledge reached after doubt or through discernment and skill, but the Quranic occurrences express knowing or awareness without requiring that special nuance.
- Lane · entry 633
- Mufradāt · row 469
Selected Quran examples
أَدْرَى
ʾadrā
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form IV
- Form
- IV
- Quran occurrences
- 17 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 make someone know something; to inform, acquaint, or disclose it to them.
In the Quranic rhetorical construction ما أَدْرَاكَ, the verb asks what can or will make the addressee know and is followed by an explanatory statement. In ما يُدْرِيكَ, the corresponding question is presented without that subsequent explanation in the Quranic usages discussed.
- Lane · entry 636
- Mufradāt · row 469
Selected Quran examples
Quran 10:16word 9
“He (would) have made it known to you”
Quran 74:27word 2
“can make you know”
Quran 80:3word 2
“would make you know”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 4:11تَدْرُونَyou know
- 10:16أَدْرَىٰكُمHe (would) have made it known to you
- 21:109أَدْرِىٓI know
- 21:111أَدْرِىI know
- 31:34تَدْرِىknows
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
دَرَى
To deceive, delude, beguile, circumvent, or outwit.
The usage may involve concealing oneself while deceiving a person or an object of the chase.
- Lane · entry 633
دَرَى
To scratch the head or to comb, loosen, or separate hair with a pointed grooming tool.
The action is described with the instrument مِدْرًى or مِدْرَاة.
- Lane · entry 633
دَرَّى
To winnow ore dust in order to separate its gold.
Reported as a dialectal variant; the lexical source also suggests that this report may be an error for ذَرَّى.
- Lane · entry 634
دَارَى
To treat someone gently or with blandishment; to soothe, coax, wheedle, or cajole them.
The derived noun also covers good nature and familiar, conciliatory intercourse. With عن or على, the construction can mean trying to turn or entice someone away from or toward a matter by blandishment or deceitful arts.
- Lane · entry 635
دَارَى
To deceive, beguile, circumvent, or outwit someone, or to strive to do so.
This is a distinct Form III usage from the gentling or conciliatory sense, though the two can occur in related dealings with another person.
- Lane · entry 635
دَارَى
To defend someone by speaking, pleading, or contending on their behalf.
Used with عَنْ in the cited defensive construction.
- Lane · entry 635
أَدْرَى
To take for oneself or prepare a دَرِيَّة, a hunting decoy.
This is a Classical Form IV usage distinct from the Quranic causative meaning ‘to make know.’
- Lane · entry 636
تَدَرَّى
Of an army, for one part to press upon another.
Reported in a specialized expression and described as though formed in place of يَتَدَرَّأُ.
- Lane · entry 637
إِدْتَرَى
To direct one's course toward a place in an inroad or incursion against an enemy, with intent to fight or plunder.
The report is phrased in the assimilated expression اِدَّرَوْ مَكَانًا and may also be used of an apparent rather than actual incursion.
- Lane · entry 639
دُرْيَة
Knowledge or awareness, as a verbal noun of دَرَى.
The form is reported with variant vocalizations and is also used in the expression مِنْ غَيْرِ دُرْيَةٍ.
- Lane · entry 640
دُرْيَة
An act or deed in the expression مِنْ غَيْرِ دُرْيَةٍ, ‘without any act or deed.’
This is an idiomatic use reported for the same nominal form.
- Lane · entry 640
دَرِيَّة
A beast used as a hunting decoy, behind which the hunter conceals himself before shooting at game.
The animal is variously described as a camel, she-camel, cow, or other beast; the lexical point is its use as concealment for the hunter.
- Lane · entry 641
دَرِيَّة
A wild animal or game animal, especially one pursued in the hunt.
This is a use of the noun for the hunted animal rather than for the decoy.
- Lane · entry 641
دَرِيَّة
A thing or ring used as a target for learning to pierce or thrust with a spear.
The usage is associated with training in spear work.
- Lane · entry 641
مِدْرًى
A pointed instrument for scratching the head or arranging, separating, or combing hair; also a horn used for such a purpose.
The related forms مِدْرَاة and مَدْرِيَة are cross-referenced as names for the same type of implement. A horn of a wild bull or gazelle can be used in this role.
- Lane · entry 643
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The evidence distinguishes the non-hamz دري family from hamz-bearing دفع-related forms; those neighboring forms are not assigned as meanings of this root.
The Form II ore-winnowing report is explicitly qualified as dialectal and possibly an error for ذَرَّى.
Classical evidence discusses, and restricts, using الدَّارِي as a divine epithet; this is a usage and naming issue, not an additional Quranic sense.