Quranic root
رمح
r · m · ḥ
The root centers on the spear or lance as an instrument of thrusting and piercing.
From the spear's thrusting action, the lexical field extends to kicking, reciprocal spear-combat, pointed or horned things, and figurative expressions based on spear imagery.
- Maqāyīs · row 2136
- Lane · entry 24432
- Lane · entry 24435
- 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.
رُمْح
rumḥ
- 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.
Spear or lance: a weapon used for thrusting or piercing.
The attested Quran form is the possessive plural رِمَاحُكُمْ, “your spears,” referring to the weapon rather than to a generic projectile.
- Lane · entry 24435
- Mufradāt · row 585
Selected Quran examples
Quran 5:94word 11
“and your spears”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 5:94وَرِمَاحُكُمْand your spears
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 25 Classical meanings
رَمَحَ
To thrust or pierce someone with a spear or lance.
Form I verb; the object is the person struck by the spear.
- Lane · entry 24432
رَمَحَ
To kick or strike with the hind leg or legs; of a locust, to strike pebbles with the hind leg or legs.
Commonly said of a horse, ass, mule, or other solid-hoofed animal; the usage is also extended to camels and she-camels.
- Lane · entry 24432
رَمَحَ
To gallop.
Marked as vulgar modern usage in the cited lexicographic evidence.
- Lane · entry 24432
رَمَحَ
Of lightning, to gleam or flash in slight, closely spaced flashes.
Figurative usage applied specifically to lightning.
- Lane · entry 24432
رَامَحَ
To contend with someone in thrusting or piercing with a spear or lance.
Form III reciprocal or mutual-combat construction.
- Lane · entry 24433
تَرَامَحَ
To contend with one another in thrusting or piercing with spears or lances.
Form VI reciprocal construction.
- Lane · entry 24434
رُمْح
Figurative spear-based expressions: for enmity or trouble to arise between people; a long and distressing day; people united against someone as one man; and a person looking intensely in fear or anger as though his eyes were on two spears.
These are conventional idiomatic or figurative applications of the spear image, not additional literal weapon senses.
- Lane · entry 24435
رُمَيْح
A proper name or euphemistic designation for the penis.
A figurative use of the diminutive form.
- Lane · entry 24435
رُمْح
A unit of angular or linear measure called a spear-length or spear measure.
Reported in astronomical usage and in some legal works; the reported size is not uniform across sources.
- Lane · entry 24435
أَخَذَتْ رِمَاحَهَا
Of the buhmā grass and similar pasture, to put forth prickles or become dry and prickly, thereby resisting grazing.
A figurative expression describing the grass as acquiring spears.
- Lane · entry 24435
أَخَذَتْ رِمَاحَهَا
Of camels, to become fat or yield milk plentifully, so that their owner is deterred from slaughtering them.
A figurative expression also used in descriptions such as نَاقَةٌ ذَاتُ رُمْحٍ and إِبِلٌ ذَوَاتُ رِمَاحٍ.
- Lane · entry 24435
رِمَاحُ الجِنِّ
The plague or pestilence.
An idiomatic figurative expression.
- Lane · entry 24435
رِمَاحُ العَقْرَبِ
The stings of scorpions.
An idiomatic expression likening the scorpion's stings to spears.
- Lane · entry 24435
ذُو رُمَيْح
A term for a long-legged species of jerboa; its tail is called رُمَيْح.
The cited passage is textually corrupted in places, so the exact expression and details of the identification remain uncertain.
- Lane · entry 24435
رِمَاح
The vice of kicking or striking with the hind leg, especially in a solid-hoofed animal.
A substantivized form describing a defect for which a sold animal could be returned.
- Lane · entry 24437
رَمُوح
A horse, camel, or other beast habitually given to kicking.
An adjectival description of an animal with a kicking disposition.
- Lane · entry 24438
رِمَاحَة
The craft or art of making spears or lances.
A verbal noun naming the occupation or skill.
- Lane · entry 24440
رَمَّاح
A maker of spears or lances.
An occupational noun; it may describe a skilled spear-maker.
- Lane · entry 24441
رَمَّاحَة
Of a bow, forcefully propelling an arrow.
Used attributively of a bow; the forceful propulsion is expressed without requiring an overt object in the cited usage.
- Lane · entry 24441
رَمَّاحَة
A thrust or piercing with a spear.
This is a reported explanation of a poetic use and is explicitly left unresolved in the evidence; it may instead be an ungoverned verbal noun related to رَمَحَ.
- Lane · entry 24441
رَمَّاح
Poverty, need, or want.
A figurative meaning attributed to this derived form; it is not the meaning of the weapon noun رُمْح.
- Lane · entry 24441
رَامِح
One who thrusts or pierces another with a spear or lance.
Active-participial usage.
- Lane · entry 24442
رَامِح
A man who has or carries a spear or lance.
A possessive adjective of the pattern used for someone characterized by possessing the named object, rather than an agent noun derived from a verb.
- Lane · entry 24442
السِّمَاكُ الرَّامِح
Arcturus, a star named “the spear-bearing Simāk.”
A conventional astronomical proper name; the spear image refers to the star preceding it.
- Lane · entry 24442
رَامِح
A horned bull, especially a wild bull.
Figurative or descriptive usage based on the bull's pair of horns.
- Lane · entry 24442
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The sole Quran occurrence is the plural رِمَاح in 5:94; the public headword is normalized to the singular citation form رُمْح.
The derived, idiomatic, technical, and figurative branches listed under broader Classical Arabic meanings are not additional Quranic occurrences.
The poetic explanation of رَمَّاحَة as a spear-thrust is unresolved in the supplied evidence, and the jerboa passage involving رُمَيْح is textually corrupt.
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
The poetic use of رَمَّاحَة is variously analyzed as a spear-thrust or as a verbal noun related to رَمَحَ; it is retained as a qualified Classical meaning rather than treated as certain.
The expression and analysis in the Lane passage for ذُو رُمَيْح are partly corrupted or incomplete, so its jerboa and tail identification is reported cautiously.