Quranic root
نحس
n · ḥ · s
The root centers on the opposite of prosperity or good fortune: adverse fortune, misfortune, and ill omen.
The lexical field extends from adverse fortune to adverse days, and to نُحَاس for copper or brass and for smoke or fiery emissions. A color association between a reddening horizon or flame and copper is offered as an explanatory development, not as a universal direct meaning of every form.
- Maqāyīs · row 4569
- Mufradāt · row 1420
- 3
- Quran-attested forms
- 5
- Quran senses
- 3
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
نَحْس
naḥs
- 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.
Misfortune, unprosperousness, or inauspiciousness.
In the Quranic occurrence it appears in the construction “a day of misfortune.” The noun denotes adverse fortune generally; an alternative adjectival reading of the cited expression is also reported, while the QAC form represented here is the noun.
- Lane · entry 43401
- Mufradāt · row 1420
Selected Quran examples
Quran 54:19word 8
“(of) misfortune”
نُحَاس
nuḥās
- 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.
Smoke or a smoke-like heated emission.
In the Quranic passage, it is understood as smoke; explanations differ over whether the emission has flame, rises high, or is associated with molten metal.
- Lane · entry 43404
Selected Quran examples
Quran 55:35word 6
“and smoke”
A flame or fiery blaze without smoke.
An interpretation of the Quranic passage understands نُحَاس as a smokeless flame, with the term associated by color with copper.
- Mufradāt · row 1420
- Lane · entry 43404
Selected Quran examples
Quran 55:35word 6
“and smoke”
Copper, brass, or molten copper-like metal.
Some Quran-focused interpretations of the passage understand نُحَاس as copper or brass itself, including molten metal.
- Lane · entry 43404
Selected Quran examples
Quran 55:35word 6
“and smoke”
نَحِس
naḥis
- Part of speech
- Adjective
- 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.
Unprosperous, adverse, or inauspicious.
The Quranic form is the plural feminine adjective describing days as adverse or ill-omened. One reported interpretation understands the days as severely cold; this is an explanatory interpretation of the same Quranic construction.
- Lane · entry 43402
- Mufradāt · row 1420
Selected Quran examples
Quran 41:16word 7
“(of) misfortune”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 3 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 12 Classical meanings
نَحِسَ
To become unprosperous, unfortunate, inauspicious, or unlucky.
Said of a person, a star, or another thing.
- Lane · entry 43397
أَنْحَسَتِ
Of a fire, to give off much smoke.
A Form IV verbal use describing the production of abundant smoke.
- Lane · entry 43398
اِنْتَحَسَ
To become overthrown or subverted.
Also used of a person's fortune when it is overturned or ruined.
- Lane · entry 43400
نَحْس
Difficulty, distress, trouble, fatigue, harm, injury, or an evil condition.
A broader noun branch distinct from the Quranic construction meaning an adverse day.
- Lane · entry 43401
نَحِس / نَحْس
Of a year, marked by dearth, drought, or sterility.
A conventional description of a barren or unproductive year.
- Lane · entry 43402
النَّحْسَانِ
The pair of planets Saturn and Mars.
A conventional dual appellation for these two planets.
- Lane · entry 43402
نُحَاس
Copper or brass.
The material term may include a strongly red copper or brass substance and molten copper.
- Lane · entry 43404
نُحَاس
Fire, or sparks produced when brass or iron is struck.
Refers to the fiery sparks or discharge produced by striking the metal.
- Lane · entry 43404
نِحَاس
Nature, natural disposition, quality, or origin.
Used of a person's character or of the origin from which a thing derives.
- Lane · entry 43405
نَحَّاس
A coppersmith or worker in copper or brass.
An occupational noun formed from the material term.
- Lane · entry 43408
مَنْحَس
A place of misfortune, unluckiness, or adverse fortune.
A noun denoting a location characterized by ill luck.
- Lane · entry 43410
مَنْحَسَة
A cause of misfortune, unluckiness, or adverse fortune.
A noun denoting something that brings about ill luck.
- Lane · entry 43411
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
نُحَاس in 55:35 has competing Quran-focused interpretations, including smoke, a smokeless flame, and copper or molten copper; these are preserved as distinct senses rather than collapsed into the contextual English gloss.
For 54:19, the QAC form is the noun نَحْس, although an adjectival reading of the expression is also reported.
A variant reading نَحَسَات is reported for 41:16; the form accounted for here is the QAC adjective نَحِسَات.