Quranic root
سلك
s · l · k
A root centered on causing something to penetrate, pass into, or proceed through something else.
The central idea of penetration or passage develops into movement along a route, insertion into a physical or abstract medium, and related route and passage nouns. Several derivatives also develop specialized material, anatomical, figurative, and zoological uses.
- Maqāyīs · row 2475
- Lane · entry 41939
- Mufradāt · row 719
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 12
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
سَلَكَ
salaka
- 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 proceed along a road or route, or to enter a place; in a path construction, to have ways run through a place for passage.
Used with a road, path, or place as the route of movement or entry. The Quran also uses the verb of paths running through or providing passage in a terrain.
- Lane · entry 41939
- Mufradāt · row 719
Selected Quran examples
Quran 16:69word 6
“and follow”
Quran 20:53word 6
“and inserted”
Quran 71:20word 1
“That you may go along”
Quran 72:27word 7
“makes to march”
To cause a person or thing to enter, pass through, or be placed within another thing; hence, to put someone or something into an inward medium, place, or condition.
A transitive construction. The complement may be a physical container or passage, a substance such as water, the heart as an inward receptacle, or a punishment or other condition. It also covers causing a person to go along or enter a road or place.
- Lane · entry 41939
- Mufradāt · row 719
Selected Quran examples
Quran 15:12word 2
“We let it enter”
Quran 23:27word 13
“then put”
Quran 28:32word 1
“Insert”
Quran 39:21word 9
“and He makes it flow”
Quran 72:17word 8
“He will make him enter”
Quran 74:42word 2
“led you”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 15:12نَسْلُكُهُۥWe let it enter
- 16:69فَٱسْلُكِىand follow
- 20:53وَسَلَكَand inserted
- 23:27فَٱسْلُكْthen put
- 26:200سَلَكْنَـٰهُWe have inserted it
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 15 Classical meanings
سَلَكَ
To pursue a course of conduct or a course of action.
A tropical extension of proceeding along a road or route.
- Lane · entry 41939
سَلَّكَ
To clear a passage or way; to clean out a pipe or channel.
A Form II usage, including the clearing of a smoking pipe.
- Lane · entry 41940
سَلَّكَ
To wind thread onto a reel or into a skein.
A Form II usage derived from سِلْكٌ, thread or string.
- Lane · entry 41940
سِلْكٌ
Thread or string used for sewing or for stringing beads; in later usage, wire.
A string without beads is distinguished from a beaded string, which is termed سِمْطٌ.
- Lane · entry 41943
رَقِيقُ السِّلْكِ
Subtle or abstruse speech, language, or discourse in its course or tenor.
A figurative expression for discourse whose meaning is difficult to follow.
- Lane · entry 41943
مَا أَنْتَ بِمُنْجَرِدِ السِّلْكِ
In a fixed expression, not free from shyness in appearing before others; alternatively, not celebrated or well-known.
An idiomatic and figurative use with reported alternative interpretations.
- Lane · entry 41943
سِلْكٌ
The first fluid emitted by a she-camel, before the colostrum.
A specialized zoological and pastoral term.
- Lane · entry 41943
سُلَكٌ
A young partridge, or the young of the bird called قَطًا.
The feminine is سُلَكَةٌ and the plural is سِلْكَانٌ.
- Lane · entry 41944
سُلْكَى
A thrust directed straight toward the face; figuratively, an affair or opinion following a direct, consistent course, or a firm resolution.
Used in descriptions of a directed thrust and in figurative expressions for decisiveness or an unvarying course.
- Lane · entry 41946
سَلَكُوتٌ
A certain bird.
A zoological noun with no further specification in the supplied evidence.
- Lane · entry 41947
مَسْلَكٌ
A place of passage for a person, animal, or thing; a way, road, or path.
Also used figuratively of ways or courses, such as the ways of truth. Its plural is مَسَالِكُ.
- Lane · entry 41949
مَسْلَكَا المَرْأَةِ
The two bodily passages identified as the vagina and rectum.
A specialized anatomical expression in the dual form.
- Lane · entry 41949
مَسْلَكَةٌ
A border slit cut from the side of a garment or piece of cloth.
Named for its elongated, passage-like form.
- Lane · entry 41950
مُسَلَّكٌ
Slender or lean in body.
Applied to a man or a horse.
- Lane · entry 41951
مُسَلَّكٌ الذَّكَرِ
Sharp or pointed at the head of the penis.
A specialized anatomical adjectival expression; مُسَمْلَكٌ الذَّكَرِ is also reported with this meaning.
- Lane · entry 41951
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic Form I occurrences cover two constructions: proceeding along or entering a route, and causing a person or thing to enter or be placed within something. Contextual renderings such as “made paths,” “flow,” and “led” reflect these constructions rather than additional senses created from English glosses alone.