Quranic root
كود
k · w · d
Approach or pursuit toward something, often with effort, yielding the notion of nearness.
The root is associated with seeking something through difficulty and with كَادَ in the sense of approaching or being near. In the approximation construction, polarity affects how the nearness and realization of the action are understood.
- Maqāyīs · row 4062
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 24
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
كَادَ
kāda
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 24 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 be near to doing something; almost or nearly do it.
An incomplete verb normally taking a nominative subject and an imperfect predicate, usually without أَنْ. Affirmative use presents the complement as near or imminent. In negated constructions, classical analyses allow readings such as “not nearly,” “hardly” or “scarcely,” action only after difficulty or delay, and in some analyses a connective with little independent force.
- Lane · entry 28645
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:20word 1
“Almost”
Quran 2:71word 23
“they were near”
To desire, intend, or purpose an action.
The occurrence أَكَادُ أُخْفِيهَا (20:15) is explicitly read in this intention-based sense, though it also has an interpretation under the ordinary proximity sense.
- Lane · entry 28645
Selected Quran examples
Quran 20:15word 4
“I almost”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:20يَكَادُAlmost
- 2:71كَادُوا۟they were near
- 4:78يَكَادُونَdo they seem
- 7:150وَكَادُوا۟and were about to
- 9:117كَادَhad nearly
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 1 Classical meanings
كَادَ
To be certain or to treat something as certain.
An attributed usage in some Arabic speech, compared with ظَنَّ when that verb denotes certainty; it is distinct from the ordinary proximity construction.
- Lane · entry 28645
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The interaction of كَادَ with negation and the resulting implication about completion is subject to competing classical grammatical analyses.
The intention reading in 20:15 is explicitly attested, but that verse is also interpreted through the ordinary proximity sense.