Quranic root
جند
j · n · d
The root centers on gathering into a body and the support or aid that such a body provides.
This orientation extends from assembled supporters to an army or host, and in Classical Arabic to a military district from which forces were gathered. The related senses جَنَدٌ, “a town,” and الْجَنَدُ, “rough stony ground,” are separately reported, with their connection to the root principle treated as uncertain.
- Maqāyīs · row 1230
- Lane · entry 47514
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 1
- 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.
جُنْدٌ
jundun
- Part of speech
- Collective noun
- Quran occurrences
- 29 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 gathered host or force: an army, military body, or body of troops.
The Quran uses the collective singular جُنْد and its plural جُنُود for human armies and for hosts or forces associated with God or other beings, including unseen forces. The form may therefore denote a military army or a broader marshalled host.
- Lane · entry 47514
- Mufradāt · row 269
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:249word 42
“and his troops”
Quran 33:9word 10
“(the) hosts”
Quran 33:9word 14
“and hosts”
Quran 74:31word 49
“(the) hosts”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:249بِٱلْجُنُودِwith the forces
- 2:249وَجُنُودِهِۦ ۚand his troops
- 2:250وَجُنُودِهِۦand his troops
- 9:26جُنُودًۭاforces
- 9:40بِجُنُودٍۢwith forces
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 9 Classical meanings
جَنَّدَ
To collect or assemble armies, military forces, or troops.
Form II verb.
- Lane · entry 47512
تَجَنَّدَ
To take or prepare an army or military force for oneself.
Form V verb; the force is acquired or made ready for the subject’s use.
- Lane · entry 47513
جُنْدٌ
A single trooper, soldier, or auxiliary.
A noun-of-unity use, distinguished from the collective sense “army” or “military force.”
- Lane · entry 47514
جُنْدٌ
A kind or species of creatures or created things considered as a distinct body.
Used for a kind regarded separately from other kinds; the usage can be extended figuratively to creatures that serve a purpose as auxiliaries.
- Lane · entry 47514
جُنْدٌ
A city together with its territory, especially a military district or province of Syria.
The Syrian administrative usage includes the traditionally enumerated military districts, whose forces were collected there; the plural is أَجْنَادٌ.
- Lane · entry 47514
جُنْدِيٌّ
Pertaining to a Syrian جُنْد, or military district.
Adjectival nisbah formation referring specifically to the Syrian district sense.
- Lane · entry 47515
جُنْدٌ مُجَنَّدٌ
A collected or organized army or military force.
A conventional collocation emphasizing that the force has been gathered together.
- Lane · entry 47516
جَنَدٌ
A town.
A separately reported vocalized lexical item; its relation to the gathering-and-support sense is not established here.
- Maqāyīs · row 1230
الْجَنَدُ
Rough, hard ground containing white stones.
The lexical source allows that this may belong to the same semantic family, but also proposes derivation by substitution from جَلَدٌ; the etymological relationship is therefore uncertain.
- Maqāyīs · row 1230
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic entry treats جُنْدٌ and its plural جُنُودٌ primarily as collective hosts or forces; the individual soldier sense is separately attested in broader Classical Arabic evidence.
The reported connection of جَنَدٌ or الْجَنَدُ with the root’s gathering-and-support principle is uncertain in the lexical evidence.