Quranic root
قصم
q · ṣ · m
The root centers on breaking, crushing, or shattering.
The Quranic usage extends physical breaking into a figurative expression for destroying or annihilating a people or settlement, especially one characterized as unjust.
- Maqāyīs · row 3793
- Mufradāt · row 1186
- 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.
قَصَمَ
qaṣama
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- 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.
To shatter, crush, or break; in the Quranic usage, to destroy or annihilate.
In وَكَمْ قَصَمْنَا مِنْ قَرْيَةٍ, the imagery of breaking or crushing expresses the destruction of a town and its people.
- Mufradāt · row 1186
Selected Quran examples
Quran 21:11word 2
“We (have) shattered”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 21:11قَصَمْنَاWe (have) shattered
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 1 Classical meanings
قَيْصُومٌ
A plant identified as Artemisia abrotanum, or southern-wood; قَيْصُومٌ ذَكَرٌ is also used, while قَيْصُومٌ أُنْثَى denotes santolina.
A botanical name and its specified plant-name variants.
- Lane · entry 20989