Quranic root
دون
d · w · n
The root is oriented toward nearness and relative proximity: one thing is nearer, lower, or adjacent to another.
From this relational notion, the lexicon develops expressions for being below or less than a reference point, beside or apart from it, approaching it, and urging someone to take hold of or approach something. These root-level developments do not apply uniformly to every Quranic occurrence.
- Maqāyīs · row 1866
- Mufradāt · row 495
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 5
- Quran senses
- 144
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
دُونَ
dūna
- Part of speech
- Adverbial noun / locative adverb
- Quran occurrences
- 144 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.
Other than, besides, apart from, or instead of.
Commonly used in constructions such as مِنْ دُونِ followed by a noun or pronoun, expressing exclusion, separation, or the selection of one thing instead of another. In some religious interpretations, the construction can describe entities regarded as means or intermediaries toward God; this is an interpretation of the relation, not a separate lexical sense.
- Lane · entry 1686
- Mufradāt · row 495
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:165word 6
“besides”
Quran 21:82word 8
“other than”
Less than, below a specified amount, degree, or standard.
Used comparatively or with a stated reference point, including constructions equivalent to “what is less than that.” The Quranic alternatives “less than” and “other than” are related through the notion of falling short of or lying outside a stated limit.
- Lane · entry 1686
- Mufradāt · row 495
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:48word 10
“other than”
Lower or inferior in rank, estimation, or condition than another.
May describe a party or person as below another in rank, religious standing, or another basis of comparison; it need not mean mere physical position.
- Lane · entry 1686
- Mufradāt · row 495
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:118word 8
“other than yourselves”
Below, beneath, or beside a reference point.
A spatial or relational use, especially in constructions with مِنْ, locating something below or beside another party. The sense is distinct from general exclusion when the relation is primarily positional.
- Lane · entry 1686
Selected Quran examples
Quran 28:23word 13
“besides them”
Before or prior to in time.
An adverbial use expressing precedence relative to a later event or stated reference.
- Lane · entry 1686
Selected Quran examples
Quran 32:21word 5
“before”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 144 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 21 Classical meanings
دَانَ
To become weak or low.
The derivation and usage are reported by some authorities; other authorities deny that this verb is properly derived from دُونَ.
- Lane · entry 1682
دُونٌ
Low, base, vile, inferior, paltry, scanty, or deficient.
An adjectival evaluation of a person or thing, including inferiority in an approvable quality or grounds for respect.
- Lane · entry 1686
دُونٌ
Middling or intermediate in quality, between good and bad.
A value judgment describing something of moderate quality rather than distinctly good or bad.
- Lane · entry 1686
دُونٌ
High, eminent, noble, or honourable.
A contrary value recorded in the Classical lexicon; the adjective can therefore have opposing evaluative applications depending on context.
- Lane · entry 1686
دُونَ
Before or in front of; also behind or beyond in spatial relation.
The reference point and direction determine whether the expression denotes the nearer/front side or what lies beyond it.
- Lane · entry 1686
دُونَ
Before or after in temporal relation.
A Classical usage with opposing temporal values reported according to context and interpretation.
- Lane · entry 1686
دُونَ
Nearer than another thing; to approach or draw near.
Used for relative proximity or for moving toward a person, place, or goal.
- Lane · entry 1686
دُونَ
To intervene between, obstruct, or prevent attainment of something.
The intervening thing stands between an agent and the object sought, thereby impeding access or achievement.
- Lane · entry 1686
دُونَ
Against, in the sense of intervening in defense of someone or something.
Used in protective constructions such as defending one's property, self, relative, or neighbour.
- Lane · entry 1686
دُونَ
At, near, by, or present with.
A relational use indicating proximity or presence beside another party.
- Lane · entry 1686
دُونَكَ
Take it; take hold of it; keep, cling to, or take care of someone or something.
An imperative or inciting expression, with the object stated directly or understood from context.
- Lane · entry 1686
دُونَكَ
A threat or warning to beware and engage at one's peril.
A fixed inciting expression challenging or warning an addressee.
- Lane · entry 1686
دَوَّنَ
To write, compose, draw up, collect, or register; to establish or arrange registers.
Used of compiling writings, instituting administrative registers, collecting books or poetry, and writing a person's name or information in a register.
- Lane · entry 1683
تَدَوَّنَ
To become completely rich, wealthy, or competent.
A Classical usage reported as a dialectal or variant form.
- Lane · entry 1685
دِيوَانٌ
A register, account book, collection of written leaves, or book of records; also a collection of a poet's poetry.
The register may concern accounts, soldiers, pensioners, administrators, or other official records; the word was also extended to books generally and especially collected poetry.
- Lane · entry 1691
دِيوَانٌ
The writers or registrars responsible for accounts or reckonings.
A metonymic use derived from the register and its administration.
- Lane · entry 1691
دِيوَانٌ
A place of account or reckoning, including the office associated with its writers.
A locational extension of the register sense.
- Lane · entry 1691
دِيوَانٌ
A council, court, or tribunal.
A later institutional use of the term for a governing or adjudicating body.
- Lane · entry 1691
دِيوَانٌ
A long cushioned seat or settee arranged along the side of a room.
A later material and architectural use referring to the furnished seating arrangement.
- Lane · entry 1691
دِيوَانِيٌّ
Pertaining to or belonging to a register or administrative bureau.
A relational adjective derived from دِيوَانٌ.
- Lane · entry 1692
أَدْوَنُ
Lower or lesser of two matters.
A comparative usage reported in a particular phrase and described by another authority as unusual because the underlying adjective was held not to have a verb.
- Lane · entry 1694
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
دُونَ has Classical attestations with contrary evaluative values: lower or inferior, and in some usage higher or more eminent. The Quranic senses above are restricted to the usages supported for the relevant constructions.
The validity of the derived verbs دَانَ and أُدِينَ is disputed in the lexical evidence; the reported Classical meanings are retained without treating them as Quranic forms.
The Quran examples use only QAC-supplied modern locations; historical citation notation in the lexical evidence is not converted into additional modern verse locations.