Quranic root
نعل
n · ʿ · l
A settled or supporting thing at a lower surface, especially what lies beneath the foot.
The root extends from a lower support to footwear and analogous lower fittings for animals, swords, and bows, then to being shod or wearing footwear and to related figurative uses.
- Maqāyīs · row 4686
- 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.
نَعْلٌ
naʿlun
- 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.
A sandal or shoe; footwear worn on the foot.
In the Quranic occurrence it appears in the dual possessive construction نَعْلَيْكَ, referring to the addressee's two items of footwear.
- Lane · entry 32305
- Mufradāt · row 1460
Selected Quran examples
Quran 20:12word 5
“your shoes”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 20:12نَعْلَيْكَ ۖyour shoes
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 13 Classical meanings
نَعْلٌ
A sole, the part of footwear that protects the foot from the ground.
The word may denote the sole alone rather than a complete sandal or shoe.
- Lane · entry 32305
نَعْلٌ
The leathern sandal or shoe of a camel.
It is attached by thongs or straps to the camel's pastern.
- Lane · entry 32305
نَعْلٌ
The iron or silver shoe-like fitting at the lower end of a sword's scabbard.
This is a specialized use for a sword fitting analogous to footwear.
- Lane · entry 32305
- Maqāyīs · row 4686
نَعْلٌ
A band of sinew or similar material fitted over the back of the curved end of a bow.
This denotes a bow fitting, not footwear.
- Maqāyīs · row 4686
نَعْلٌ
A hard, rugged tract or place of land.
The term can refer to a barren or nearly non-growing stretch of ground.
- Lane · entry 32305
نَعْلٌ
A wife.
This is a figurative or tropical Classical Arabic usage.
- Lane · entry 32305
نَعْلٌ
A lowly or despised man, figuratively one trodden underfoot like a sandal.
This is a figurative application to a person regarded as contemptible or submissive.
- Maqāyīs · row 4686
أَنْعَلَ
To put a sole or shoe onto a boot, and to shoe an animal.
This is a Form IV verbal use for fitting footwear or a protective sole.
- Lane · entry 32303
- Maqāyīs · row 4686
نَاعِلٌ / مُنْتَعِلٌ
Wearing or having sandals.
These active-participial descriptions apply to a person equipped with footwear.
- Lane · entry 32307
- Maqāyīs · row 4686
مُنَعَّلٌ
Said of a horse marked with white at the lower pastern.
The definition concerns the characteristic white marking on the lower part of the fetlock or pastern.
- Mufradāt · row 1460
- Maqāyīs · row 4686
نَاعِلٌ
Said of a wild ass with a hard hoof.
This animal use is explained by the hardness of its hoof.
- Maqāyīs · row 4686
نَاعِلٌ / مُنَعَّلٌ
A well-off or wealthy person, figuratively represented as shod.
This figurative use is contrasted with describing a poor person as barefoot.
- Mufradāt · row 1460
نِعَالِيٌّ
One who attends to sandals or shoes at the entrance of a bath or mosque.
This is an occupational designation associated with caring for visitors' footwear.
- Lane · entry 32306
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The QAC lemma candidate نَعْلَي and Quranic surface نَعْلَيْكَ are normalized here to the singular citation form نَعْلٌ; the Quran occurrence itself is dual and possessive.