Quranic root
لبن
l · b · n
The root centers on drinkable milk and develops related terms for possessing, producing, giving, and being nourished by milk.
The lexical record also preserves extensions by association or analogy: milk-bearing animals, suckling, milk containers, and several distinct homographic branches such as bricks, the chest, frankincense, and need.
- Maqāyīs · row 4098
- Mufradāt · row 1290
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 1
- Quran senses
- 2
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
لَبَنٌ
labanun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 2 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.
Milk; the drinkable substance produced by milk-giving animals.
In the Quran, it occurs in descriptions of pure milk produced from livestock and of rivers of milk in Paradise whose taste does not change.
- Mufradāt · row 1290
Selected Quran examples
Quran 16:66word 14
“milk”
Quran 47:15word 14
“milk”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 2 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 22 Classical meanings
لَابِنٌ
Having or possessing much milk.
An adjective for a person or other milk-having subject.
- Maqāyīs · row 4098
- Mufradāt · row 1290
لَبَنَ
To give someone milk to drink.
The cited usage is transitive: to give milk to another person.
- Maqāyīs · row 4098
- Mufradāt · row 1290
أَلْبَنَ، مُلْبِنٌ
To have abundant milk or become milk-abundant; milk-abundant.
Used of a person or female animal whose milk is plentiful, whether naturally or because milk has been left to accumulate in the udder.
- Maqāyīs · row 4098
- Mufradāt · row 1290
لَبُونٌ
A milk-bearing animal.
In a counting expression for livestock, it denotes the milk-producing animals of a flock.
- Mufradāt · row 1290
مَلْبُونٌ
A horse given milk as favored or special nourishment.
The lexical statement is specifically applied to a horse.
- Maqāyīs · row 4098
- Mufradāt · row 1290
مَلْبُونٌ
A person made foolish by excessive milk-drinking.
A rare, attributed Classical usage referring to the effect of drinking much milk.
- Maqāyīs · row 4098
لِبَانٌ
Suckling or nursing at the breast.
Refers to the act of taking milk from the breast, not to milk as a beverage generally.
- Lane · entry 20535
- Mufradāt · row 1290
بِلِبَانِ أُمِّهِ
Kinship established through suckling at the same mother’s breast; foster-brotherhood by nursing.
A conventional kinship expression; the cited form is “his brother by the milk of his mother.”
- Maqāyīs · row 4098
- Mufradāt · row 1290
لُبَانٌ
The chest or breast.
A homographic branch distinct in vocalization and meaning from لِبَانٌ “suckling.”
- Maqāyīs · row 4098
- Mufradāt · row 1290
لُبَانَةٌ
A need, want, or desired object.
Explained as originally connected with a need for milk, then extended in usage to any need.
- Maqāyīs · row 4098
- Mufradāt · row 1290
لَبَنٌ
Neck pain caused by a pillow.
A rare lexical branch explicitly treated as divergent from the milk meaning.
- Maqāyīs · row 4098
لَبِنٌ
A brick or bricks, especially crude or unburnt bricks.
The singular unit is لَبِنَةٌ; this is distinct from لَبَنٌ “milk.”
- Lane · entry 20532
- Mufradāt · row 1290
لَبَّنَ
To make or build with bricks.
A derived verb associated with the brick-building sense.
- Mufradāt · row 1290
لُبَانٌ
The frankincense tree, and more commonly its resin or olibanum.
The resin is the more common application in the cited lexical account.
- Lane · entry 20534
- Maqāyīs · row 4098
عَسَلُ اللُّبْنَى
A resinous substance identified with storax or styrax, used for fumigation.
A conventional phrase rather than the ordinary noun for milk.
- Lane · entry 20537
لَبَنِيَّةٌ
Food prepared with milk.
A derived food term in later or modern usage.
- Lane · entry 20539
لُبَيْنَةٌ
A small quantity of milk.
A diminutive form related to لَبَنٌ.
- Lane · entry 20540
مَلْبَنٌ
A vessel or receptacle in which milk is placed.
Distinct in vocalization and function from مِلْبَنٌ, the implement associated with carrying bricks.
- Mufradāt · row 1290
مِلْبَنٌ
An implement like a carrying frame, used to transport bricks.
A tool associated with لَبِنٌ “bricks,” not a milk container.
- Lane · entry 20541
ابْنُ لَبُونٍ
A male camel that has entered or is entering its third year.
A conventional age-term for a camel; authorities differ slightly over whether it denotes the second or third year.
- Lane · entry 20536
بَنَاتُ لَبَنٍ
The small intestines or lacteal intestines, understood as the intestines in which the milk originates.
A fixed anatomical expression.
- Lane · entry 20531
اللَّبَّانُ
A striker or one who strikes another.
The supplied lexical note gives only ضاربه, so the object struck and the exact scope of the term remain unspecified.
- Mufradāt · row 1290
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
Several classical branches are homographs with different vocalizations and meanings, including لَبَنٌ “milk,” لَبِنٌ “brick,” لُبَانٌ “frankincense” or “chest,” and لِبَانٌ “suckling.”
The Quranic evidence attests only the noun لَبَنٌ in two occurrences; the additional derived and homographic branches are broader Classical Arabic evidence.
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
The isolated Mufradat statement اللَّبَّانُ: ضاربه is retained as a classical meaning, but the object struck and the precise lexical scope of the term are not specified in the supplied evidence.