Quranic root
غسل
gh · s · l
The root denotes washing as an act of purification and cleansing: removing dirt or other matter by water.
From physical washing, the lexical family extends to complete bodily washing, washing substances and wash-water, matter washed away, and several specialized or figurative uses.
- Maqāyīs · row 3415
- Mufradāt · row 1051
- 4
- Quran-attested forms
- 8
- Quran senses
- 4
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
غَسَلَ
ghasala
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- 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.
To wash something by making water run over it so as to remove dirt, filth, or similar matter.
In the Quran, used in the imperative for washing specified body parts in ritual purification.
- Lane · entry 29283
- Mufradāt · row 1051
Selected Quran examples
Quran 5:6word 8
“then wash”
اِغْتَسَلَ
āightasala
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VIII
- Form
- VIII
- 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.
To wash oneself, especially by washing the whole body with water.
The Quranic occurrence refers to bodily washing in the context of purification.
- Lane · entry 29287
- Mufradāt · row 1051
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:43word 19
“you have bathed”
غِسْلِين
ghislīn
- Part of speech
- 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.
The foul matter washed from the flesh and bodies of the inmates of Hell.
The primary Quranic interpretation is wash-off from their bodies, flesh, or wounds.
- Lane · entry 29298
- Mufradāt · row 1051
Selected Quran examples
Quran 69:36word 5
“(the) discharge of wounds”
A food of the inmates of Hell, explained as matter or flesh cooked by the fire and fallen from their bodies.
An alternative exegetical interpretation of the Quranic term, not a separate occurrence.
- Lane · entry 29298
Selected Quran examples
Quran 69:36word 5
“(the) discharge of wounds”
A species of tree in Hell.
An interpretation attributed in the lexical discussion to a particular exegetical authority.
- Lane · entry 29298
Selected Quran examples
Quran 69:36word 5
“(the) discharge of wounds”
Something intensely hot.
An alternative interpretation of the Quranic term.
- Lane · entry 29298
Selected Quran examples
Quran 69:36word 5
“(the) discharge of wounds”
مُغْتَسَل
mughtasal
- Part of speech
- Passive participle · substantivized 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.
A place where one bathes.
In the Quranic expression, it denotes a bathing place or spring.
- Lane · entry 29311
- Mufradāt · row 1051
Selected Quran examples
Quran 38:42word 4
“(is a spring of) water to bathe”
Water used for bathing.
The Quranic noun may refer to the water in which or with which one bathes; the occurrence is independently located at 38:42.
- Mufradāt · row 1051
Selected Quran examples
Quran 38:42word 4
“(is a spring of) water to bathe”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 4:43تَغْتَسِلُوا۟ ۚyou have bathed
- 5:6فَٱغْسِلُوا۟then wash
- 38:42مُغْتَسَلٌۢ(is a spring of) water to bathe
- 69:36غِسْلِينٍۢ(the) discharge of wounds
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 32 Classical meanings
غَسَلَ
To cleanse someone from sin or moral impurity.
A figurative use based on physical washing and cleansing.
- Lane · entry 29283
غَسَلَ
To become free of, or get clear of, the consequences of an affair.
A figurative idiom associated with becoming clean or finished with something.
- Lane · entry 29283
غَسِلَ
Of a horse, to sweat or become suffused with sweat.
A specialized intransitive use said of a horse.
- Lane · entry 29283
غَسَلَ
To have sexual intercourse.
A conventional figurative use of غَسَلَ in the construction غَسَلَ المرأةَ.
- Lane · entry 29283
غَسَلَ
Of a stallion, to cover a female repeatedly.
A specialized use referring to frequent mating.
- Lane · entry 29283
غَسَلَ
To beat and cause pain with a whip.
A figurative or specialized transitive use with a whip as instrument.
- Lane · entry 29283
أَغْسَلَ
Of a stallion, to cover a female much or often.
A Form IV specialized use.
- Lane · entry 29285
اِنْغَسَلَ
To become washed or washed off.
A quasi-passive intransitive use of the root.
- Lane · entry 29286
اِغْتَسَلَ
To smear, daub, or sprinkle oneself copiously with perfume.
A specialized Form VIII use with perfume.
- Lane · entry 29287
اِسْتَغْسَلَ
To request or undergo a prescribed washing ritual performed by another person.
A conventional Form X use in the treatment associated with the evil eye.
- Lane · entry 29288
غَسْلٌ
Washing; the act of making water run over something to remove dirt or filth.
The verbal noun of غَسَلَ; authorities differ over its distinction from غُسْلٌ.
- Lane · entry 29289
غُسْلٌ
A complete washing of the whole person, including a ritual bath.
Classically associated with major impurity, childbirth, Friday prayer, and washing the dead.
- Lane · entry 29290
غِسْلٌ
A preparation or substance used for washing or dressing the head and hair, including plant materials, potash, perfume, or similar ingredients.
The term may refer to a head-wash preparation and to materials used in grooming the hair.
- Lane · entry 29291
غَسِلٌ
A man who has sexual intercourse frequently.
A specialized nominal use.
- Lane · entry 29292
غَسْلَةٌ
A single act of washing.
The plural is غَسَلَاتٌ.
- Lane · entry 29295
غَسْلَةٌ
Figuratively, earnings or means of livelihood.
A figurative use in the expression describing a city built by its builders' earnings.
- Lane · entry 29295
غِسْلَةٌ
A quality of facial beauty or freshness.
Used in the expression عَلَى وَجْهِهِ غِسْلَةٌ, describing a face without fatness.
- Lane · entry 29296
أَبُو غِسْلَةَ
A name for the wolf.
An appellation rather than a general noun for the animal.
- Lane · entry 29296
غُسَلَةٌ
One who covers or mates much, or does so without impregnating.
Applied especially to a stallion and also to a man.
- Lane · entry 29297
غَسُولٌ
Water or another substance used for washing the body, head, hands, or garments.
It may refer especially to a small quantity of wash-water or to plant-based washing materials.
- Lane · entry 29299
غَسِيلٌ
Washed; something that has been washed, including a dead body.
Used adjectivally of things and substantivally in some contexts.
- Lane · entry 29300
غَسِيلٌ
Clothes or similar items gathered together to be washed.
A later or current nominal use of the washed material.
- Lane · entry 29300
الغُسَالَةُ
The water or liquid resulting from washing, including matter extracted or washed from a thing; by extension, an infusion steeped from it.
The term can denote either the wash-water or material carried away by it.
- Lane · entry 29301
غَسْوِيلٌ
A plant that grows in places exuding water and producing salt.
It is also described as a species of tree.
- Lane · entry 29302
غَسَّالٌ
A washer of clothes or of the dead.
The feminine is formed with ة.
- Lane · entry 29303
غَاسِلٌ
A washer of the dead.
A specialized occupational noun.
- Lane · entry 29306
غَاسِلٌ
A species of tree.
A separate nominal sense of the same form.
- Lane · entry 29306
غَاسُولٌ
Potash or the alkaline plant from which it is prepared, used as a washing substance.
Identified with أُشْنَان and related glasswort plants.
- Lane · entry 29307
مَغْسِلٌ
A place in which the dead are washed.
A place noun with the plural مَغَاسِلُ.
- Lane · entry 29308
مِغْسَلٌ
A vessel in which a thing is washed.
An instrument or container noun.
- Lane · entry 29309
مَغْسُولٌ
Figuratively, speech stripped of refined expressions or allusions; hence speech that is plain, trimmed, or pruned.
A metaphorical extension of something washed free of additions.
- Lane · entry 29310
مُغْتَسَلٌ
A tank or basin, especially one described as made of copper.
A specialized Classical Arabic usage distinct from the Quranic bathing-place and bathing-water senses.
- Lane · entry 29311
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic noun غِسْلِين has several recorded exegetical interpretations; the primary wash-off interpretation is kept distinct from alternative food, tree, and intense-heat interpretations.
A Lane Quran citation in the غَسُولٌ discussion is printed in historical form as “xxxviii. 41” and is not converted into a modern verse location; the Quranic location 38:42 for مُغْتَسَل is established independently by QAC and Mufradat.
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
Lane entry 29299 contains an abbreviated or omitted expression associated with its historical Quran citation, so that citation is not used to identify a separate modern Quran occurrence or to override the independently secured QAC headword مُغْتَسَل.