Quranic root
قعد
q · ʿ · d
The root centers on sitting or settling down, contrasted with standing, and extends to remaining in a place, occupying a position, withholding oneself, and things that serve as bases or supports.
From bodily sitting and a sitting-place, the lexicon develops usages for staying, taking or holding a position, abstaining or being held back, lineage-nearness, foundations, and several specialized nouns associated with sitting, support, or immobility.
- Maqāyīs · row 3812
- Mufradāt · row 1197
- 6
- Quran-attested forms
- 10
- Quran senses
- 31
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
قَعَدَ
qaʿada
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 12 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 sit or sit down; to remain seated.
The basic verb of adopting or remaining in a sitting position; aspect and person vary across the Quranic occurrences.
- Lane · entry 8643
- Mufradāt · row 1197
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:168word 4
“while they sat”
To sit in wait for, lie in wait for, or take up a position against someone.
The construction قَعَدَ لَهُ expresses purposeful waiting or surveillance, rather than merely being seated.
- Lane · entry 8643
- Mufradāt · row 1197
Selected Quran examples
Quran 7:16word 4
“surely I will sit”
مَقْعَدٌ
maqʿadun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 4 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.
A place or seat of sitting, staying, or repose.
The noun may denote a physical seat or place of remaining; in مَقْعَدِ صِدْقٍ it denotes a place or station of settled repose.
- Lane · entry 8672
- Mufradāt · row 1197
Selected Quran examples
Quran 54:55word 2
“a seat”
Quran 9:81word 3
“in their staying”
A position or station taken up for a purpose, especially a combat position.
مَقَاعِدَ لِلْقِتَالِ is a figurative use for the settled positions of a battle.
- Mufradāt · row 1197
- Lane · entry 8672
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:121word 7
“(to take) positions”
قَاعِدٌ
qāʿidun
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- Quran occurrences
- 7 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.
Sitting or seated; one who is in a sitting position.
The active participle of قَعَدَ, used substantivally or adjectivally; it describes ordinary sitting where the context does not add a withholding sense.
- Lane · entry 8669
- Mufradāt · row 1197
Selected Quran examples
Quran 10:12word 8
“sitting”
One who remains behind or refrains from proceeding, especially one who holds back from fighting or other action.
In Quranic passages concerning departure, struggle, or collective action, it denotes those who stay behind rather than go forth.
- Lane · entry 8669
- Mufradāt · row 1197
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:95word 21
“the ones who sit”
Quran 9:46word 15
“those who sit”
قَعِيدٌ
qaʿīdun
- Part of speech
- Noun / 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.
A watcher, guardian, or recording attendant stationed alongside.
In the Quranic expression referring to the right and left, قَعِيدٌ denotes the attendant who watches and records; the form can function in a construction whose number is understood from context.
- Lane · entry 8666
- Mufradāt · row 1197
Selected Quran examples
Quran 50:17word 8
“seated”
قَاعِدَةٌ
qāʿidahun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- 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.
A foundation, base, or structural support.
The Quranic occurrences are plural قَوَاعِد and refer to the bases or supporting structures of a building.
- Lane · entry 8670
- Mufradāt · row 1197
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:127word 4
“the foundations”
Quran 16:26word 10
“the foundations”
A woman who has ceased menstruating and childbearing and no longer expects marriage.
The Quranic plural قَوَاعِد is a lexicalized feminine plural in this sense and is distinct from the ordinary active-participle meaning “sitting.”
- Lane · entry 8669
- Mufradāt · row 1197
Selected Quran examples
Quran 24:60word 1
“And postmenopausal”
قُعُودٌ
quʿūdun
- Part of speech
- Verbal noun
- Quran occurrences
- 4 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.
Sitting, sitting down, or remaining seated.
The verbal noun contrasts with standing and may describe a posture or the state of staying seated.
- Lane · entry 8643
- Mufradāt · row 1197
Selected Quran examples
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:127ٱلْقَوَاعِدَthe foundations
- 3:121مَقَـٰعِدَ(to take) positions
- 3:168وَقَعَدُوا۟while they sat
- 3:191وَقُعُودًۭاand sitting
- 4:95ٱلْقَـٰعِدُونَthe ones who sit
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 78 Classical meanings
قَعَدَ
To remain, stay, abide, or dwell in a place.
A lexical extension of remaining in a settled position, including the Form IV usage cited under this root.
- Lane · entry 8643
- Lane · entry 8646
قَعَدَ
To be driven into repeated standing and sitting by grief or agitation.
Used in the expression قَامَ وَقَعَدَ for a person unable to remain at rest.
- Lane · entry 8643
- Lane · entry 8646
- Lane · entry 8674
قَعَدَ
To be able to contend with an adversary or furnish support in war.
Occurs in expressions describing a group’s ability to meet an opponent with its warriors or to prepare warriors for war.
- Lane · entry 8643
قَعَدَ
To attend to, perform, or undertake an affair; to set about or commence an action.
The object is an affair or activity, as in قَعَدَ لِلْأَمْرِ and قَعَدَ يَشْتِمُنِي.
- Lane · entry 8643
قَعَدَ
To abstain from, neglect, relinquish, or hold back from an affair; to remain behind others.
The constructions قَعَدَ عَنِ الأَمْرِ and قَعَدَ عَنِ القَوْمِ express withdrawal, nonparticipation, or remaining behind.
- Lane · entry 8643
قَعَدَ
Of a bird, to crouch or lie upon its breast on the ground.
Recorded specifically of the aquiline vulture.
- Lane · entry 8643
قَعَدَ
Of a woman, to cease bearing children, menstruating, or having a husband.
This is a specialized classical use of the verb with those domains explicitly mentioned.
- Lane · entry 8643
قَعَدَ
Of a palm tree, to bear fruit in one year and not in another.
A specialized description of irregular or absent fruiting.
- Lane · entry 8643
قَعَدَ
To produce thin evacuations of the bowels.
Occurs in the idiomatic expression قَعَدَ مَقَاعِدَ رِقَاقًا.
- Lane · entry 8643
قَعَدٌ
Human dung.
A separate nominal lexical item, not the ordinary verbal noun of sitting.
- Lane · entry 8652
قَعَدٌ
Laxness or depression in a camel’s shank.
A specialized anatomical description of a camel.
- Lane · entry 8643
قَعَّدَ
To beg God to preserve, guard, keep, or watch over someone.
The supplicatory expression قَعَّدْتُكَ اللَّهَ is an idiomatic Form II use.
- Lane · entry 8644
قَاعَدَ
To sit with someone.
A reciprocal or associative Form III construction.
- Lane · entry 8645
أَقْعَدَ
To cause someone to sit or seat someone.
The transitive Form IV causative of sitting.
- Lane · entry 8646
أُقْعِدَ
To be rendered unable to walk or rise by disease, lameness, or decrepitude.
The passive Form IV describes bodily incapacity that constrains a person to remain sitting.
- Lane · entry 8646
- Lane · entry 8673
إِقْعَادٌ
Of a horse’s hind leg, excessive spreading or flattening so that it is not erect.
A specialized veterinary or anatomical use.
- Lane · entry 8646
أُقْعِدَ
Of a camel, to be afflicted with the disease called قُعَاد.
The disease affects the haunches and inclines the animal toward the ground.
- Lane · entry 8646
أَقْعَدَ
To dig a well only to the depth of a seated man or leave it before reaching water.
A specialized construction concerning the depth or unfinished state of a well.
- Lane · entry 8646
أَقْعَدَ
To suffice, aid, or assist someone in earning or gaining a livelihood.
A distinct Form IV idiom, with تَقْعِيدٌ as its verbal noun.
- Lane · entry 8646
أَقْعَدَ
To serve someone.
A specialized Form IV usage, also associated with تَقْعِيدٌ.
- Lane · entry 8646
أَقْعَدَ
To withhold someone from eminence or nobility because of deficient or short lineage.
The withholding is attributed to ancestry or baseness of origin.
- Lane · entry 8646
إِقْعَادٌ
Nearness of relationship as the basis of inheritance.
The expression وَرِثُهُ بِالإِقْعَادِ is explicitly distinguished from inheritance by قُعُود.
- Lane · entry 8646
تَقَعَّدَ
To withhold, restrain, debar, or prevent someone from attaining what is wanted.
The object may be a person or an intended goal; the Form V construction expresses an impediment.
- Lane · entry 8647
تَقَعَّدَ
To refrain from seeking or desiring an affair.
Used with عَنِ الأَمْرِ for non pursuit or lack of desire.
- Lane · entry 8647
تَقَعَّدَ
To perform or carry out an affair.
A distinct, directly attested Form V usage.
- Lane · entry 8647
تَقَاعَدَ
To fail to pay someone what is due.
A specialized Form VI construction with بِهِ.
- Lane · entry 8648
اِقْتَعَدَ
To ride or make use of a camel.
The camel is taken as a قُعْدَة for riding or ordinary use.
- Lane · entry 8649
اِقْتَعَدَ
To take a seat of the kind called قَعِيدَة.
A specialized object-taking construction.
- Lane · entry 8649
قَعْدَةٌ
A single sitting.
The noun denotes one occurrence or session of sitting.
- Lane · entry 8653
ذُو الْقَعْدَةِ
The eleventh month of the Arab year.
The month is traditionally associated with abstaining from journeys and warfare before the pilgrimage season.
- Lane · entry 8653
قُعْدَةٌ
An ass.
A distinct nominal sense from the homonymous sitting-related nouns.
- Lane · entry 8654
قُعْدَةٌ
A horse’s or camel’s saddle.
A specialized implement noun.
- Lane · entry 8654
قِعْدَةٌ
A mode or manner of sitting.
The noun describes how someone sits rather than one occurrence of sitting.
- Lane · entry 8655
قِعْدَةٌ
The height or depth of a seated man, used as a measure.
Applied to the height of a tree, the depth of a well, or a comparable extent.
- Lane · entry 8655
قِعْدَةٌ
A person’s last child or last children.
A specialized kinship and birth-order noun.
- Lane · entry 8655
قَعَدَةٌ
A vehicle or beast of carriage used for women or men.
The sources record variation over whether the vehicle is specifically for women or for a man.
- Lane · entry 8656
قَعَدَةٌ
A mat or carpet on which a person sits.
Includes the kind called طَنْفَسَة.
- Lane · entry 8656
قُعْدُدٌ
Nearness to the oldest or chief ancestor in lineage.
The term can be an epithet of praise or, by a competing evaluation, imply descent from an old and weakened line.
- Lane · entry 8659
قُعْدُدٌ
A cowardly or ignoble man who holds back from war and generous action.
A figurative characterization derived from holding back.
- Lane · entry 8659
قُعْدُدٌ
A man of obscure, low, or ignoble rank, especially one held back from eminence by lineage.
A social and genealogical characterization.
- Lane · entry 8659
أَقْعَدُ
More nearly related to the oldest or chief ancestor in lineage.
A comparative expression such as أَقْعَدُ نَسَبًا.
- Lane · entry 8671
قُعْدِيٌّ
A person who sits or lies down much; figuratively, one lacking power or ability and preferring to remain at home.
The term may characterize habitual inactivity or impotence.
- Lane · entry 8661
قَعَدِيٌّ
A member or adherent of a sect that held back from fighting.
The term is applied especially to the relevant Kharijite or separatist group; a later poetic use extends it to a person refusing wine while tolerating others’ drinking.
- Lane · entry 8662
قُعَادٌ
Lameness or a disease in a man that constrains him to remain sitting.
A human disease noun distinct from ordinary sitting.
- Lane · entry 8663
قُعَادٌ
A disease of camels affecting the haunches and making them incline toward the ground.
The same lexical family is used for the animal disease and related laxness of the haunches.
- Lane · entry 8663
قَعُودٌ
A young male camel, or a young camel fit for riding.
The age boundaries and whether the feminine is included vary among authorities; the ordinary term chiefly denotes a young male camel.
- Lane · entry 8665
قَعُودٌ
A camel kept for a herder’s regular riding and for carrying provisions and utensils.
The noun denotes a dependable camel for ordinary pastoral use.
- Lane · entry 8665
قَعِيدٌ
A companion in sitting.
A فَعِيل form with the sense of an associative companion, distinct from the Quranic watcher use.
- Lane · entry 8666
قَعِيدٌ
A father or a man’s wife, understood as a close companion.
These are specialized relational uses of the same headword; قَعِيدَةُ بَيْتِ رَجُلٍ specifically denotes a man’s wife.
- Lane · entry 8666
قَعِيدَكَ اللَّهَ
An idiomatic adjuration, appeal, or conciliatory expression invoking God as watcher, keeper, or companion.
The expression may function as an oath, an appeal, or a request for preservation; its grammatical analysis varies in the lexical discussion.
- Lane · entry 8666
قَعِيدٌ
An animal or bird that comes from behind, regarded as an evil omen.
Applied to gazelles, birds, or wild animals and contrasted with what approaches from the front.
- Lane · entry 8666
قَعِيدٌ
A locust whose wings are not yet fully formed.
A specialized stage-of-development noun.
- Lane · entry 8666
قَعِيدَةٌ
A woven receptacle or mat-like object made for sitting.
The item may resemble an عَيْبَة and is attributed to women’s weaving.
- Lane · entry 8667
قَعِيدَةٌ
A sack used to hold dried meat or similar food.
A specialized receptacle noun, also associated with the form’s plural قَعَائِدُ.
- Lane · entry 8667
قَعِيدَةٌ
A compact or low-lying formation of sand, including a heap or long tract lying close to the ground.
The sources record more than one physical description of the sand formation.
- Lane · entry 8667
قَعَّادَةٌ
A seat or couch of the kind called سَرِير.
A regional usage recorded for the dialect of Yemen.
- Lane · entry 8668
قَاعِدٌ
A sack full of grain.
A figurative use treating the full sack as settled or sitting.
- Lane · entry 8669
قَاعِدٌ
An abstainer from warfare, or a member of the separatist group known as the قَعَد.
This specialized collective and sectarian use is distinct from the Quranic active participle for those remaining behind.
- Lane · entry 8669
قَاعِدٌ
A palm tree, especially a young trunked palm; also a palm that has not borne fruit in its year or bears intermittently.
The sources describe several closely related palm-tree applications of the headword.
- Lane · entry 8669
قَاعِدَةٌ
A hand-turned mill.
A specialized noun for a mill operated by turning its handle by hand.
- Lane · entry 8669
قَاعِدَةٌ
A general rule, canon, or governing principle.
A conventional technical sense equivalent to ضَابِطٌ.
- Lane · entry 8670
قَوَاعِدُ
The low, extended lower parts of clouds along the horizon.
A figurative extension from the foundations or bases of a structure.
- Lane · entry 8670
قَوَاعِدُ
The four transverse wooden supports beneath a howdah.
A specialized plural noun for the frame supporting the howdah.
- Lane · entry 8670
أَقْعَدُ
A camel having laxness or depression in the shank.
A specialized animal adjective.
- Lane · entry 8671
مَقْعَدٌ
A position of nearness or close station.
In the expression مَقْعَدَ القَابِلَةِ, the sitting-place metaphor denotes being close or directly before someone.
- Lane · entry 8672
مَقْعَدٌ
A time or period of sitting.
A temporal noun derived from the act of sitting.
- Lane · entry 8672
مَقْعَدٌ
The anus or the posterior on which one sits.
A specialized anatomical use.
- Lane · entry 8672
مُقْعَدٌ
A man of short lineage or without inherited eminence.
The expressions مُقْعَدُ النَّسَبِ and مُقْعَدُ الحَسَبِ describe genealogical or social deficiency.
- Lane · entry 8673
مُقْعَدُ الأَنْفِ
A man with wide or wide-and-short nostrils.
A specialized anatomical description.
- Lane · entry 8673
ثَدْيٌ مُقْعَدٌ
A prominent, swelling breast that fills the hand and has not yet become pendulous.
A specialized anatomical and descriptive use.
- Lane · entry 8673
بِئْرٌ مُقْعَدَةٌ
A well partly dug and abandoned before reaching water.
A specialized passive-participle description of an unfinished well.
- Lane · entry 8673
مُقْعَدَاتٌ
Young birds of the قَطًا kind before they rise to fly.
A specialized plural noun for birds not yet able to take flight.
- Lane · entry 8673
مُقْعَدَاتٌ
Frogs.
A specialized plural lexical use.
- Lane · entry 8673
مُقْعِدٌ
A servant.
A separate nominal use recorded under the same written form as the participial expressions.
- Lane · entry 8674
قَعَدَ
To become; to come to have a particular state or quality.
A less common lexical use in which قَعَدَ is synonymous with صَارَ, including constructions describing an object coming to be in a new condition.
- Lane · entry 8643
قَعَدَ
To stand.
A rare contrary lexical use, attributed to a stated authority, in which قَعَدَ bears the meaning “to stand”; it is presented as one of two contrary significations.
- Lane · entry 8643
مُقْعَدٌ
A person unable to walk or rise because of disease, lameness, or prolonged illness.
The passive-participle adjective describes bodily incapacity that constrains a person to remain sitting; the sources also record a distinction from زَمِنٌ according to some authorities.
- Lane · entry 8673
مُقْعَدٌ
A camel afflicted with قُعَاد, a disease affecting the haunches and inclining the animal toward the ground.
A specialized application of مُقْعَدٌ to a camel having the named disease.
- Lane · entry 8673
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Lane citation attached to the watcher sense uses historical notation; the modern location 50:17 is used here because it is independently supplied by QAC, not because the historical bracketed citation was converted directly.