Quranic root
جزأ
j · z · ʾ
The root is oriented toward sufficiency: being satisfied with something or finding it enough.
From this orientation, the lexicon develops meanings of a portion or constituent part, division, substitution, and things that suffice; derived usages also include becoming divided and naming specialized components.
- Maqāyīs · row 1145
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 3
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
جُزْءٌ
juzʾun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 3 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 part, portion, division, constituent element, or share of a thing.
Used for a physical constituent portion and for an allotted share or division of a whole.
- Lane · entry 46663
- Mufradāt · row 247
Selected Quran examples
A portion or share of offspring, interpreted in the Quranic expression as female offspring attributed to God.
In 43:15, the word occurs in a polemical claim about assigning God a share from His servants; the interpretation as female offspring is a figurative and contested explanation of that expression, not a general restriction on the noun.
- Lane · entry 46663
- Mufradāt · row 247
Selected Quran examples
Quran 43:15word 5
“a portion”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 3 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 26 Classical meanings
جَزَأَ
To divide a thing into parts or portions, or make it consist of parts.
A transitive Form I usage concerning something divided or constituted in portions.
- Lane · entry 46657
جَزَأَ
To take a part or portion of something.
A Form I usage in which the subject takes a portion from an object.
- Lane · entry 46657
جَزَأَ
To curtail a poetic line by two metrical feet, or make each verse consist of two feet.
A specialized poetic construction.
- Lane · entry 46657
جَزَأَ
To make a thing firm, fast, or strong, or bind it firmly.
A distinct Form I usage applied to an object that is secured or strengthened.
- Lane · entry 46657
جَزَأَ
To be satisfied or content with something, or find it sufficient.
Of camels, it describes being satisfied with fresh herbage instead of water; with عَنْ followed by a wife, it can express being content to abstain from conjugal intercourse.
- Lane · entry 46657
أَجْزَأَ
To satisfy or suffice someone or an animal.
The Form IV causative usage includes satisfying camels with fresh herbage so that they need no water.
- Lane · entry 46659
أَجْزَأَ
To serve in place of another thing or person, or make one thing suffice for another.
Used with عَنْ to express standing in another's stead or providing an equivalent substitute.
- Lane · entry 46659
أَجْزَأَ
To discharge or satisfy an obligation by having one sacrificial animal serve for another person or number of persons.
A conventional sacrificial usage, including an animal serving in place of several persons.
- Lane · entry 46659
أَجْزَأَ
Of pasture or a meadow: to become luxuriant.
The luxuriance is explained by the pasture's ability to satisfy grazing animals.
- Lane · entry 46659
أَجْزَأَ
Of a woman: to give birth to female children.
A specialized Form IV usage concerning the sex of offspring.
- Lane · entry 46659
أَجْزَأَ
To fit an awl or knife with a handle.
The object furnished is an implement such as an awl or knife.
- Lane · entry 46659
أَجْزَأَ
To put a ring on one's finger.
An idiomatic Form IV construction.
- Lane · entry 46659
تَجَزَّأَ
To become divided into parts or portions.
An intransitive Form V development describing something becoming partitioned.
- Lane · entry 46660
جَزْءٌ
Fresh or green pasture or herbage.
A reported Medinan usage attributed to one authority; the reading is disputed because another reading is commonly known in the cited report.
- Lane · entry 46662
جُزْءٌ
A volume or section of a book.
A conventional application of the word to a division of a written work.
- Lane · entry 46663
جُزْءٌ
A metrical foot of a verse.
A specialized poetic usage.
- Lane · entry 46663
جُزْأَةٌ
A component piece used as a handle or support: specifically, the handle of an awl or knife, a vine-prop, or, in a reported dialectal usage, the rear panel of a tent.
The particular object depends on the implement, plant, or dialectal context.
- Lane · entry 46664
جُزْئِيٌّ
Relating to a part or division; partial or particular.
Also substantivized for a particular or individual case.
- Lane · entry 46665
جُزْئِيَّةٌ
The quality of relating to a part or particular case; particularity.
An abstract noun derived from the adjective جُزْئِيٌّ.
- Lane · entry 46666
جَزِىءٌ
Satisfying or filling food.
Used of food that provides sufficient nourishment.
- Lane · entry 46667
جَازِئٌ
One who suffices in place of another.
The active participle can describe a person who is an adequate substitute for another person.
- Lane · entry 46668
جَازِئٌ
One satisfied by fresh pasture without needing water.
Applied to a doe-gazelle, wild cattle, or, in the plural, palm-trees described as not needing irrigation.
- Lane · entry 46668
مُجْزِئٌ
A strong, fat camel sufficient for the needs of its rider or carrier.
A specialized description based on the camel's ability to provide adequately for those using it.
- Lane · entry 46671
مُجْزِئَةٌ
A woman who gives birth to female children.
A specialized feminine participial usage.
- Lane · entry 46671
مَجْزُوءٌ
Divided into parts, or having a portion taken from it.
A passive-participial usage describing the result of partition or removal of a portion.
- Lane · entry 46673
مَجْزُوءٌ
A poetic verse curtailed by two original metrical feet, or one consisting of two feet.
A technical term in Arabic prosody, with the two descriptions reflecting different analyses of the curtailed form.
- Lane · entry 46673
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The explanation of جُزْءًا in 43:15 as female offspring is Quran-attested lexical commentary but is explicitly reported as a figurative and disputed interpretation.
The reported Medinan use of جَزْءٌ for fresh pasture is uncertain because the transmitted reading is disputed.