Quranic root
مسح
m · s · ḥ
The root centers on passing one thing over another in a spreading or wiping motion.
From this core arise wiping and removing, applying or anointing, measuring or traversing a surface, marking or flattening, and figurative extensions such as striking with a sword.
- Maqāyīs · row 4367
- Mufradāt · row 1364
- 2
- Quran-attested forms
- 4
- Quran senses
- 4
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
مَسَحَ
masaḥa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- 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.
To pass the hand over something, wiping it or removing moisture, dirt, or another surface trace.
The Quranic imperative occurs in purification instructions; the construction may specify the body part being wiped and the medium used.
- Lane · entry 12622
- Mufradāt · row 1364
Selected Quran examples
In ritual purification, to wipe or pass water over designated body parts; in this construction, the verb is also recorded with the extended sense “to wash.”
A Quran-attested ritual construction, especially مَسَحَ بِرَأْسِهِ and the wording of the purification passage in which the head and feet are mentioned.
- Lane · entry 12622
- Mufradāt · row 1364
Selected Quran examples
مَسْحٌ
masḥun
- Part of speech
- Verbal 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.
Wiping or passing the hand over something.
The Quranic occurrence is in an expression that has been understood as the physical passing of the hand over the horses.
- Lane · entry 12622
- Mufradāt · row 1364
Selected Quran examples
Quran 38:33word 4
“(to) pass (his hand)”
Striking or cutting with a sword, by figurative extension from wiping or passing over; in the Quranic expression, striking or cutting the horses’ legs and necks.
This is the explicitly Quran-attested sword-related interpretation of the occurrence; the same passage is also reported with the physical-wiping interpretation.
- Lane · entry 12622
- Mufradāt · row 1364
Selected Quran examples
Quran 38:33word 4
“(to) pass (his hand)”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 4:43فَٱمْسَحُوا۟and wipe (with it)
- 5:6وَٱمْسَحُوا۟and wipe
- 5:6فَٱمْسَحُوا۟then wipe
- 38:33مَسْحًۢا(to) pass (his hand)
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 73 Classical meanings
مَسَحَ البَيْتَ
To compass the Sacred House, traditionally by passing the hand over its Black Stone corner.
A conventional ritual expression.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسَحَ اللهُ عَنْكَ مَا بِكَ
To remove an affliction from someone; in a prayer, to cleanse or relieve the person of illness or sins.
A supplicatory idiom.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسَحَهُ
To anoint a person or thing with oil.
A transitive use with the anointed object as complement.
- Lane · entry 12622
مُسِحَ بِالكَرَمِ
To be marked or characterized by a quality, especially nobility.
A figurative passive construction.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسَحَ
To comb and dress the hair.
A lexical synonym of combing or arranging hair.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسْحُ اللِّحَى
To stroke the beards as a sign of reconciliation.
A conventional social gesture rather than a separate physical action.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسَحَهُ بِالمَعْرُوفِ
To beguile or deceive someone with pleasant words while giving him nothing.
A figurative idiom involving deceptive reassurance.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسَحَ
To lie or utter what is false.
A lexical figurative use distinct from merely flattering or beguiling someone.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسَحَ فِي الأَرْضِ
To set forth and travel through the land.
An intransitive construction describing movement across a region.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسَحَهُمْ
To pass lightly by people or brush past them without remaining.
A figurative movement expression.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسِحَ
For the inner thighs, or the inner side of the knee, to rub and become sore or chapped.
An intransitive bodily condition; this is distinct from the transitive wiping verb.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسَحَ الإِبِلَ
To make camels travel all day, with the associated result of saddle injury and emaciation.
A figurative or specialized use applied to driving pack camels.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسَحَ
To measure or survey land.
A technical or figurative extension involving the measured extent of a surface.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسَحَهُ بِالسَّيْفِ
To strike or cut someone with a sword.
A general sword construction; the Quran-specific occurrence is represented separately under مَسْحٌ.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسَحَهُمْ
To slay people.
A figurative extension of striking or cutting.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسَحَهُ
To create someone blessed and goodly, or, conversely, accursed and foul or ugly.
An attributed theological or descriptive use of the verb.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَسَحَ
To approach sexually or have sexual intercourse.
A euphemistic conventional use; no object-class restriction is implied.
- Lane · entry 12622
مَاسَحَهُ
To take someone by the hand and place one’s palm against his palm.
A reciprocal or interpersonal hand-contact construction.
- Lane · entry 12624
مَاسَحَهُ
To make a compact or covenant with someone.
A conventional extension of striking or joining palms.
- Lane · entry 12624
مَاسَحَا
To use blandishing or wheedling words toward one another, deceptively.
A reciprocal figurative construction in which the speakers’ hearts are not sincere.
- Lane · entry 12624
تَمَسَّحَ بِالمَاءِ
To wash oneself with water.
A reflexive Form V construction.
- Lane · entry 12625
تَمَسَّحَ
To perform the ablution known as الوضوء.
A conventional ritual use of the reflexive form.
- Lane · entry 12625
تَمَسَّحَ بِالأَرْضِ
To perform tayammum, ritual purification using the earth.
A specialized ritual construction.
- Lane · entry 12625
تَمَسَّحَ بِالأَرْضِ
To make the forehead touch the ground in prostration without an intervening object.
A distinct interpretation of the same earth-related construction.
- Lane · entry 12625
يُتَمَسَّحُ بِهِ
To seek blessing through contact with, or approach to, an excellent or devout person.
A figurative or devotional use involving the person or his garment as a means of seeking blessing.
- Lane · entry 12625
يَتَمَسَّحُ
To have nothing in one’s possession.
An idiom comparing the person to one who wipes his arms and finds them empty.
- Lane · entry 12625
تَمَسَّحَ
To wipe oneself clean of something, or to wipe oneself with something.
The complement may be introduced as the thing removed or the thing used for wiping.
- Lane · entry 12625
تَمَاسَحَا
To act toward one another in a friendly or sincere manner, or to take one another by the hand.
A reciprocal Form VI construction.
- Lane · entry 12626
تَمَاسَحَا
To make a contract or bargain with one another, confirming it by striking palms and swearing.
A conventional extension of reciprocal hand-clasping.
- Lane · entry 12626
اِمْتَسَحَ
To draw a sword from its scabbard.
A Form VIII specialized usage.
- Lane · entry 12627
مِسْحٌ
A coarse or thick hair-cloth garment, mat, or worn-out hair-cloth covering.
A noun distinct from the verbal noun meaning wiping.
- Lane · entry 12628
مِسْحٌ
The main or middle part of a road.
A noun for the roadway’s central track.
- Lane · entry 12628
مَسَحٌ
Paucity of flesh in the buttocks or thighs, including small buttocks that stick together.
An anatomical noun.
- Lane · entry 12629
مَسْحَةٌ
A visible trace, sign, mark, or trait of a quality, especially beauty, nobility, or leanness.
Usually used in a phrase meaning that someone shows some such quality.
- Lane · entry 12630
مَسِيحٌ
Anointed or wiped over with oil; by extension, the anointed one.
This adjective and noun also underlie the title al-Masīḥ.
- Lane · entry 12632
المَسِيحُ
The Messiah or Christ, especially Jesus; with a qualifier, the false Messiah or Antichrist.
The unqualified title normally refers to Jesus, while الدجّال or الكذّاب specifies the false Messiah.
- Lane · entry 12632
مَسِيحٌ
A king.
A separately reported Classical meaning of the noun.
- Lane · entry 12632
مَسِيحٌ
Sweat.
Explained by its being wiped away when it pours forth.
- Lane · entry 12632
مَسِيحٌ
A coin whose impression has been obliterated or erased.
A figurative description of a blank or impressionless coin.
- Lane · entry 12632
مَسِيحٌ
A piece of silver.
A nominal use distinct from the erased-coin sense.
- Lane · entry 12632
مَسِيحٌ
One-eyed, or having one side of the face plain without an eye or eyebrow.
A physical description traditionally applied, among others, to the false Messiah.
- Lane · entry 12632
مَسِيحٌ
A rough napkin, kerchief, or cloth used for wiping.
Named from its use in wiping the face or retaining dirt.
- Lane · entry 12632
مَسِيحٌ
Beautiful in the face.
A descriptive adjective.
- Lane · entry 12632
مَسِيحٌ
One who journeys or goes about much as a devotee.
A devotional or ascetic description.
- Lane · entry 12632
مَسِيحٌ
One who has frequent sexual intercourse.
An independent adjectival use.
- Lane · entry 12632
مَسِيحٌ
Greatly erring.
An adjectival description of persistent error.
- Lane · entry 12632
مَسِيحٌ
A great liar, one who lies much.
An adjectival use distinct from the title al-Masīḥ.
- Lane · entry 12632
مَسِيحٌ
Very veracious or truthful.
A rare or possibly obsolete adjectival use.
- Lane · entry 12632
مَسِيحٌ
Created blessed and goodly, or, conversely, accursed, foul, or unfortunate.
A descriptive passive sense related to being created with blessing or misfortune.
- Lane · entry 12632
مِسَاحَةٌ
The measurement or surveying of land.
A technical verbal noun.
- Lane · entry 12633
مَسِيحَةٌ
A lock, portion, or plait of hair, especially hair hanging from the head or left undressed.
The plural is مَسَائِحُ; the term may also denote the part of the head or cheek touched by the hand.
- Lane · entry 12634
مَسِيحَةٌ
A bow, especially an excellent bow.
A noun distinct from the hair term.
- Lane · entry 12634
مَسَّاحٌ
A measurer or surveyor of land.
An agent noun derived from measuring land.
- Lane · entry 12635
مَاسِحٌ
A mild chafing on a camel’s breast callosity or armpit, caused by rubbing, without bleeding.
A specialized camel-related noun or descriptive expression.
- Lane · entry 12637
مَاسِحٌ
A great slayer, one who slays many.
An agentive adjectival use.
- Lane · entry 12637
مَاسِحَةٌ
A woman who combs and dresses hair.
A feminine agent noun.
- Lane · entry 12638
أَمْسَحُ؛ مَسْحَاءُ
A flat, smooth, usually barren tract with small stones; a smooth waterless desert.
The masculine and feminine forms can function substantivally for this type of terrain.
- Lane · entry 12639
- Lane · entry 12640
مَسْحَاءُ
Red land.
A terrain description.
- Lane · entry 12639
مَسْحَاءُ
A woman with little flesh in the buttocks and thighs.
An anatomical feminine adjective.
- Lane · entry 12639
مَسْحَاءُ
A woman who is foul, ugly, or unseemly.
A separately reported descriptive use of the feminine adjective.
- Lane · entry 12639
أَمْسَحُ القَدَمِ
A man with a flat sole lacking a hollow, or with smooth, soft feet without cracks.
A physical adjective concerning the feet.
- Lane · entry 12639
مَسْحَاءُ الثَّدْيِ
A woman whose breast has little or no bulk.
An anatomical feminine adjective.
- Lane · entry 12639
مَسْحَاءُ
A one-eyed woman, or a woman with a defective eye.
A physical descriptive use.
- Lane · entry 12639
أَمْسَحُ
A man with little flesh in the buttocks and thighs, or with small buttocks that stick together.
An anatomical masculine adjective.
- Lane · entry 12639
أَمْسَحُ
A man whose inner thighs rub together and become sore, or whose knee is inflamed by garment friction.
An anatomical masculine adjective.
- Lane · entry 12639
غَارَةٌ مَسْحَاءُ
A mounted hostile raid that passes lightly by the opposing party without remaining.
A conventional figurative expression.
- Lane · entry 12639
أُمْسُوحٌ
A long piece of wood in a ship.
A specialized nautical noun.
- Lane · entry 12641
مَمْسُوحُ الأَلْيَتَيْنِ
Having small buttocks cleaving closely to the bone.
A descriptive passive participial expression.
- Lane · entry 12643
مَمْسُوحٌ
A eunuch whose testicles have been removed.
A specialized descriptive noun.
- Lane · entry 12643
عَضُدٌ مَمْسُوحَةٌ
An upper arm with little flesh.
A descriptive bodily expression.
- Lane · entry 12643
مَمْسُوحٌ
A thing that is foul, ugly, unfortunate, or changed from its proper form.
A descriptive passive participle.
- Lane · entry 12643
تِمْسَحٌ
A dissembler or deceiver who blandishes and beguiles with words; also an audacious, wicked, or great liar.
A rare descriptive noun or adjective.
- Lane · entry 12644
تِمْسَاحٌ
The crocodile, a large aquatic animal that seizes and devours prey.
A zoological noun with plural forms تَمَاسِيحُ and تَمَاسِحُ.
- Lane · entry 12645
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Form I QAC lemma is an imperative surface identity; the public headword is normalized to the Classical Arabic perfect مَسَحَ.
The occurrence at 38:33 is mapped by the independent QAC location. The historical Lane citation is not treated as a modern surah:ayah transcription; the lexical evidence preserves both wiping and sword-striking interpretations.
The packet integrity metadata reports 96 Lane primary source units, but the supplied source-unit objects enumerate 90 distinct unit IDs. No missing IDs have been reconstructed.
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
The declared Lane primary source-unit count is six higher than the number of source-unit objects actually supplied. The artifact accounts for every supplied unit ID; the six unprovided units cannot be assigned without inventing identifiers or evidence.