Quranic root
سحت
s · ḥ · t
A root centered on removing, stripping, or cutting something off completely, so that it disappears.
From thorough extirpation and removal, the lexicon develops meanings of destruction by punishment, property made to disappear, insatiable consumption, and unlawful gain called سُحْت because it removes blessing or leaves no lasting good.
- Maqāyīs · row 2370
- Mufradāt · row 667
- Lane · entry 40377
- Lane · entry 40380
- 2
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 4
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
أَسْحَتَ
ʾasḥata
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form IV
- Form
- IV
- 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 destroy utterly; to annihilate or wipe out by punishment.
In the Quranic threat of 20:61, the Form IV imperfective refers to destruction by punishment. The passage is also transmitted with a Form I reading and may be rendered as afflicting, overwhelming, or stripping away completely; these are nuances of the same destructive construction.
- Lane · entry 40377
- Mufradāt · row 667
Selected Quran examples
Quran 20:61word 10
“lest He will destroy you”
سُحْتٌ
suḥtun
- 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.
Forbidden or disreputable gain or property; ill-gotten proceeds whose acquisition or consumption brings disgrace.
In the Quranic expressions involving eating or consuming سُحْت, the term denotes unlawful or foul gain and property. Context may emphasize legal unlawfulness, moral disgrace, or both.
- Lane · entry 40380
- Mufradāt · row 667
Selected Quran examples
Quran 5:42word 4
“of the forbidden”
Quran 5:62word 9
“the forbidden”
Quran 5:63word 9
“(of) the forbidden”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 5:42لِلسُّحْتِ ۚof the forbidden
- 5:62ٱلسُّحْتَ ۚthe forbidden
- 5:63ٱلسُّحْتَ ۚ(of) the forbidden
- 20:61فَيُسْحِتَكُمlest He will destroy you
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 18 Classical meanings
سَحَتَ
To remove, strip, scrape, or peel away completely; to efface or make something disappear.
Attested of removing the prepuce or hair, peeling fat or another thing away, and effacing traces from the surface of the earth; the construction can also describe making property disappear.
- Lane · entry 40377
سَحَتَ
To slaughter or put to death.
An extended use is attested of slaughtering people.
- Lane · entry 40377
أُسْحِتَ
For one's property to go away or be lost.
Used of a person's property becoming absent or disappearing.
- Lane · entry 40378
أَسْحَتَ
To gain or earn unlawful or foul proceeds.
Used of earning سُحْت; of trade or business, the related construction can mean that it becomes disapproved, foul, or unlawful.
- Lane · entry 40378
أَسْحَتَ
To earn little or have scant returns.
Attested especially in descriptions of poor returns from trade.
- Lane · entry 40378
سَحْتٌ
Vehemence or voraciousness in eating and drinking.
A noun describing excessive force or greed in consumption.
- Lane · entry 40379
سَحْتٌ
Punishment, castigation, or chastisement.
A separately attested noun use in general Classical Arabic.
- Lane · entry 40379
سَحْتٌ
Intense or vehement cold.
Used in the expression بَرْدٌ سَحْتٌ for severe cold.
- Lane · entry 40379
سُحْتٌ
A bribe given to a judge or a similar authority.
A conventional application of the noun to a corrupt or disreputable payment; related earnings may be condemned for damaging honor even where the issue is not described as strictly unlawful.
- Lane · entry 40380
- Mufradāt · row 667
سُحْتٌ
Little or small in quantity or number; paltry or inconsiderable.
A distinct Classical adjective-like use describing scant amount or value.
- Lane · entry 40380
سُحْتٌ
Property that may be taken or destroyed with impunity; blood that may be shed with impunity.
Used idiomatically of property or blood regarded as legally or customarily open to seizure, destruction, or shedding without penalty.
- Lane · entry 40380
سُحْتُوتٌ
An old, worn-out garment or piece of cloth.
A lexicalized noun for a worn textile or garment.
- Lane · entry 40383
سُحْتُوتٌ
A preparation of parched-grain meal with little grease or gravy.
Used of a poor or dry preparation of سَوِيق.
- Lane · entry 40383
سُحْتُوتٌ
A desert whose earth is soft.
Used as a description of a soft-soiled desert tract.
- Lane · entry 40383
سَحِيتَةٌ
A cloud that sweeps away what it passes over.
A descriptive use of the feminine form for a sweeping or eroding cloud.
- Lane · entry 40385
أَسْحَتُ، سَحْتَاءُ
Barren of pasture.
Used of a year or a land in which there is no grazing or pasture.
- Lane · entry 40386
مَسْحُوتٌ
Property made to disappear, exhausted, or destroyed.
A passive-participial description of property that has been removed or made away with.
- Lane · entry 40389
مَسْحُوتٌ
Voracious or insatiable in eating and drinking.
In مَسْحُوتُ الجَوْفِ or مَسْحُوتُ المَعِدَةِ, it describes one who is not satiated or has a greedy stomach; related usage includes much eating and drinking and digestive distress.
- Lane · entry 40389
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic verb is displayed according to QAC's Form IV grouping as أَسْحَتَ; the same passage is also reported with a Form I reading.