Quranic root
كون
k · w · n
The root centers on reporting that something occurs, is present, or comes to be, with reference to past or present time.
This orientation develops into the existential and copular verb كَانَ and related ideas of being and coming into existence. The derivation of مَكَانٌ from كَانَ يَكُونُ is reported as a qualified view, not as an established direct meaning of the root.
- Maqāyīs · row 4070
- 3
- Quran-attested forms
- 6
- Quran senses
- 1,390
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
كَانَ
kāna
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 1,358 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, exist, or be in a stated condition; also to serve as a copula linking a subject with its predicate.
It commonly presents a state or existence with past-time reference, but the surrounding construction may yield present, future, habitual, or counterfactual translations. It may be used without an independently emphasized time meaning as a copula. With divine predicates or generic subjects, it can mark a characteristic understood as enduring or little subject to separation; a past reference may describe either a continuing state or one that later changed. In كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ, the past form can point to the status assigned in divine determination or judgment rather than simply replacing a present-tense form.
- Lane · entry 32991
- Mufradāt · row 1228
Selected Quran examples
To occur, come about, or be realized or present.
Explicitly attested in the conditional construction إِنْ كَانَ ذُو عُسْرَةٍ, where the sense is that a hardship or condition has occurred or is present.
- Mufradāt · row 1228
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:280word 2
“is”
مَكَانَةٌ
makānahun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 5 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 place of being or existence; a place or position occupied by someone or something.
The Quranic noun can refer literally to a place, as well as to the place in which a group or thing is situated.
- Lane · entry 32996
Selected Quran examples
Quran 36:67word 5
“their places”
Position, standing, or state; the condition or station in which someone is placed.
Used especially in expressions concerning a person's or group's position, standing, or condition.
- Lane · entry 32996
Selected Quran examples
Quran 11:93word 4
“your position”
مَكَانٌ
makānun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 27 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 place, location, or site.
Includes a physical location or a designated place; the LOC-tagged Quranic occurrences are included under this same noun.
- Mufradāt · row 1228
Selected Quran examples
Quran 19:16word 9
“(to) a place”
Quran 22:26word 4
“(the) site”
A position, station, or rank.
Used figuratively for a person's or group's position or station, including a place in an evaluative or social order.
- Lane · entry 32996
Selected Quran examples
Quran 12:77word 20
“(in) position”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:10كَانُوا۟they used to
- 2:16كَانُوا۟were they
- 2:23كُنتُمْyou are
- 2:23كُنتُمْyou are
- 2:28وَكُنتُمْWhile you were
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 8 Classical meanings
كَوْنٌ
In some technical usage, the transformation of a substance into something lower than it.
A qualified usage attributed to some speakers; it is not presented as a general Quranic sense of كَانَ.
- Mufradāt · row 1228
كَوْنٌ
Creation or origination.
A theological technical usage attributed to many theologians.
- Mufradāt · row 1228
تَكَوَّنَ
To receive or take on being; to come into existence or originate.
Form V; describes emergence into existence rather than merely being in a state.
- Lane · entry 32992
اِسْتَكَانَ
To become lowly, humble, submissive, or abased.
Form X; commonly describes humble submission, including submission before or to someone addressed with لِـ.
- Lane · entry 32993
- Mufradāt · row 1228
كَانَ
To guarantee or undertake responsibility for someone.
A rare, explicitly qualified usage with عَلَى: كُنْتُ عَلَى فُلَانٍ أَكُونُ عَلَيْهِ.
- Maqāyīs · row 4070
مَكَانٌ
In the command مَكَانَكَ, to stay where one is.
A conventional imperative expression meaning “remain where you are.”
- Lane · entry 32996
مَكَانٌ
A ground, basis, or warrant for saying something.
Used in the construction هٰذَا مَكَانٌ لِقَوْلِنَا كَذَا.
- Lane · entry 32996
مَكَانٌ
To become as or like something else.
Used in the construction أَصْبَحَ مَكَانَ كَذَا, “it became as or like such a thing.”
- Lane · entry 32996
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The derivation of مَكَانٌ from كَانَ يَكُونُ is reported as a qualified lexical view, not asserted as certain.
كَانَ often functions grammatically as an auxiliary or copula, so English tense choices are strongly dependent on construction and context.
Historical citation notation in the lexical evidence has not been converted into additional modern Quran locations; the examples use only supplied QAC locations.