Quranic root
ربو
r · b · w
The supplied evidence centers on increase, growth, swelling, and elevation.
The lexical field extends from something becoming larger or higher to rearing and cultivation, elevated land, increasing or excessive returns, and states of bodily inflation or breathlessness. These are related developments, not a single meaning of every form.
- Mufradāt · row 526
- 6
- Quran-attested forms
- 6
- Quran senses
- 20
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
رَبَا
rabā
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- 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.
To increase, grow, or swell.
In the Quran this describes the earth swelling and growing after rain, and an increase sought in people's property. The physical and economic contexts instantiate the same intransitive notion of becoming greater.
- Lane · entry 22316
- Mufradāt · row 526
Selected Quran examples
رَبَّى
rabbā
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form II
- Form
- II
- Quran occurrences
- 2 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 rear, foster, nourish, or bring up.
A transitive causative verb used in the Quran for bringing up a person. The broader lexical range also includes nourishing or cultivating a growing thing.
- Lane · entry 22317
Selected Quran examples
Quran 17:24word 11
“they brought me up”
Quran 26:18word 3
“we bring you up”
أَرْبَى
ʾarbā
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form IV
- Form
- IV
- Quran occurrences
- 2 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 increase, augment, or become more numerous.
In the Quran the verb is used for multiplying or increasing the recompense of alms and for being more numerous or abundant. The construction may therefore express either augmentation of something or comparative numerical excess.
- Lane · entry 22319
- Lane · entry 22337
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:276word 4
“and (gives) increase”
Quran 16:92word 18
“more numerous”
رَبْوَة
rabwah
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 2 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.
An elevated piece of ground; a hill or high ground.
The Quran uses the noun for elevated terrain, including the elevated site associated with a garden and the elevated place where Jesus and his mother were settled.
- Lane · entry 22325
- Mufradāt · row 526
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:265word 13
“on a height”
Quran 23:50word 8
“a high ground”
رَابٍ
rābin
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- Quran occurrences
- 2 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.
Rising, swelling, or exceeding in extent or intensity.
This active-participle adjective is used in the Quran for foam rising above a flood and for a punishment exceeding other punishments. The feminine Quran form رَابِيَة is included under the same citation form.
- Lane · entry 22335
- Mufradāt · row 526
Selected Quran examples
Quran 13:17word 11
“rising”
Quran 69:10word 6
“exceeding”
رِبًا
riban
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 8 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.
An increase taken or stipulated in lending or exchange; usury.
In Quranic usage the noun denotes the legally specified usurious increase, especially an added return in lending or transactions, rather than ordinary beneficial increase. The Quran contrasts this gain with divinely blessed charity.
- Lane · entry 22322
- Mufradāt · row 526
Selected Quran examples
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:265بِرَبْوَةٍon a height
- 2:275ٱلرِّبَوٰا۟[the] usury
- 2:275ٱلرِّبَوٰا۟ ۗ[the] usury
- 2:275ٱلرِّبَوٰا۟ ۚ[the] usury
- 2:276ٱلرِّبَوٰا۟the usury
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 24 Classical meanings
رَبَا
To become high or elevated.
- Lane · entry 22316
رَبَا
To grow up, especially among or in the care and protection of others.
Used of a child or person growing up in a household or under someone's care.
- Lane · entry 22316
رَبْوٌ
Breathlessness, panting, or interrupted breathing caused by exertion; asthma in later usage.
The noun can denote a state of bodily inflation or difficulty in breathing.
- Lane · entry 22316
- Lane · entry 22321
رَبَا
To ascend or mount a hill or elevated ground.
- Lane · entry 22316
رَبَّى
To feed, nourish, or cultivate a growing thing, including plants, trees, or seed-produce.
This broader object range is distinct from the Quranic occurrences concerning the rearing of a person.
- Lane · entry 22317
رَبَّى
To preserve fruit, flowers, or another food by preparing it with honey, sugar, or a similar substance.
A specialized food-preservation usage.
- Lane · entry 22317
رَبَّى
To remove or ease someone's strangling cord or distress.
An idiomatic usage concerning relief from physical or figurative straitness.
- Lane · entry 22317
رَابَى
To practice usury or engage in usurious dealing with another.
A reciprocal or interpersonal Form III construction.
- Lane · entry 22318
رَابَى
To treat someone with gentleness, soothe, coax, wheedle, or cajole.
A conventional interpersonal usage distinct from the financial sense.
- Lane · entry 22318
أَرْبَى
To take more than one has given; hence, to engage in usury.
The first expression is a general excess-taking construction, with the financial specialization referring to usurious gain.
- Lane · entry 22319
أَرْبَى
To exceed a specified age, number, or amount.
Used with a stated benchmark, such as an age.
- Lane · entry 22319
تَرَبَّى
To be fed, nourished, reared, fostered, or brought up.
An intransitive or middle Form V development concerning the person receiving care.
- Lane · entry 22320
رَبْوٌ
A company or group of men.
One report specifies the group as ten thousand; that numerical specification is variant within the lexical discussion.
- Lane · entry 22321
رِبًا
An excess or addition over a principal amount; more broadly, an added return obtained through lending, exchange, or a gift intended to elicit a greater return.
Classical discussion distinguishes unlawful loan gains from other forms of added return and from the narrower legal designation. This broader branch should not be confused with the Quranic legal sense in every context.
- Lane · entry 22322
رِبَوِيّ
Pertaining to riba or usury.
A relational adjective derived from the noun رِبًا.
- Lane · entry 22330
رَبَاء
Excess, excellence, or superiority over another.
Used in a comparison between persons or things.
- Lane · entry 22331
رَبَاء
An obligation, favour, or benefit owed or bestowed.
A distinct nominal sense associated with a favour or benefit.
- Lane · entry 22331
رَابِيَة
Affected by breathlessness or panting.
A feminine adjective or substantive usage; the lexical evidence does not restrict the condition to any particular human sex beyond the illustrative example.
- Lane · entry 22335
أُرْبِيَّة
The root or upper part of the thigh, including the flesh at the thigh's root.
An anatomical term; descriptions vary slightly as to the precise adjoining area.
- Lane · entry 22338
أُرْبِيَّة
A man's household and the sons of his paternal uncle; by extension, his nearer household kin.
The lexical discussion excludes more distant or unrelated people in the narrower usage.
- Lane · entry 22338
مُرْبٍ
One who practices or takes riba.
An active participial noun referring to a person engaged in usurious dealing.
- Lane · entry 22340
مُرْبِيَة
Good land.
Reported as an assumed figurative or tropical application in the lexical source.
- Lane · entry 22340
مُرَبًّى
Reared, fostered, fed, or nourished.
A passive participial description of a person or thing that has received care or nourishment.
- Lane · entry 22342
مُرَبًّى
Preserved or made into preserves or confections with رُبّ, such as inspissated juice.
A specialized food-preparation usage, distinct from the participle meaning reared.
- Lane · entry 22342
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
Lane's printed Quran references use historical citation conventions; modern verse locations in the examples are taken from QAC rather than reconstructed from Lane's notation.
The Quranic form رَابِيَة is presented under the normalized active-participle citation form رَابٍ, while its Classical-only breathlessness specialization remains separate from the Quranic rising-or-exceeding sense.
The broader Classical discussion of رِبًا includes forms of excess or added return that should not automatically be equated with the Quranic legal sense of usury.