Quranic root
لحي
l · ḥ · y
The root has two principal semantic branches: the jaw or beard-bearing part of the body, and the bark or outer covering of a plant.
The bodily branch yields terms for the jaw and beard, while the covering branch yields bark, skins, and the action of stripping or peeling. Derived usage also records winding a turban beneath the jaw.
- Maqāyīs · row 4130
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 1
- Quran senses
- 1
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
لِحْيَة
liḥyah
- 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.
Beard; facial hair.
In the attested Quran occurrence, it appears in the prepositional possessive expression بِلِحْيَتِي, “by my beard.”
- Lane · entry 20589
- Lane · entry 20588
Selected Quran examples
Quran 20:94word 5
“by my beard”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 20:94بِلِحْيَتِىby my beard
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 5 Classical meanings
لَحْى
Jawbone; either the upper or lower jaw, including the part on which the beard grows in a man.
The term may also denote a lateral portion of the lower jaw.
- Lane · entry 20588
لِحْيَة
By synecdoche, the beard standing for the whole person.
A figurative usage in which a bodily feature represents its bearer.
- Lane · entry 20589
لِحَاء
Bark or outer covering of a plant; by extension, the pulp or flesh covering a date stone and the skin of a grape.
Used for the protective or enclosing layer of vegetal materials.
- Lane · entry 20591
تَلَحَّى
To wind part of one's turban under the lower jaw.
The construction تَلَحَّى بِعِمَامَتِهِ describes arranging the turban beneath the jaw.
- Lane · entry 20586
اِلْتَحَى
To peel or strip flesh from a bone.
Used with the flesh as the object and the bone as the point from which it is removed.
- Lane · entry 20587
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic occurrence is an inflected possessive form; the public headword is normalized to the singular citation form لِحْيَة.