Quranic root
سمك
s · m · k
The root centers on rising upward, elevation, and loftiness.
The semantic range develops from a thing's rising and the act of raising it to the upper extent or height of a structure, the supports that raise it, and descriptions of loftiness. The fish sense is explicitly treated as a divergent branch.
- Maqāyīs · row 2488
- Lane · entry 42195
- Lane · entry 42196
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- 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.
سَمْك
samk
- 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.
The ceiling, roof, or uppermost part of a structure; in the Quran, the raised ceiling or vault of heaven.
Occurs in the construction رفع سمكها, describing the upper extent of the heaven.
- Lane · entry 42196
- Mufradāt · row 725
Selected Quran examples
Quran 79:28word 2
“its ceiling”
The vertical height or upward thickness of heaven.
An attested interpretation of سمكها in the Quranic construction رفع سمكها; this sense concerns the heaven's height from the earth or its thickness extending upward.
- Lane · entry 42196
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 79:28سَمْكَهَاits ceiling
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 16 Classical meanings
سَمَكَ
To rise, ascend, or become high, elevated, or lofty.
A Form I verbal use; the subject may be a thing that rises or a person who ascends.
- Lane · entry 42195
سَمَكَ
To raise, elevate, upraise, or uplift something.
A transitive Form I use, including raising a wall, roof, or heaven.
- Lane · entry 42195
سَمْك
The vertical dimension of a thing: its height, depth, or thickness from one extent to another; also the stature of a standing person or the height of anything.
A general nominal use distinct from the Quranic reference to heaven's upper extent.
- Lane · entry 42196
سَمَك
Fish; a collective term for aquatic creatures.
The plural forms سِمَاك and سُمُوك are reported for the collective noun.
- Lane · entry 42197
السَّمَكَة
The constellation Pisces, also called the two fish.
A celestial and zodiacal designation.
- Lane · entry 42197
سِمَاك
A thing used to raise or support another thing, such as a wall or roof.
Includes a structural support or prop.
- Lane · entry 42198
السِّمَاك
The name of two bright stars: al-Simāk al-Aʿzal and al-Simāk al-Rāmiḥ.
The two stars are distinguished by their descriptive epithets and astronomical positions.
- Lane · entry 42198
السِّمَاك
The upper part of the chest next to the collarbone.
Also called سِمَاكُ التَّرْقُوَةِ.
- Lane · entry 42198
سُمَيْكَاء
Certain small fish, especially fish that are dried.
Also called هِفّ.
- Lane · entry 42200
سَمَّاك
A fishmonger.
An occupational noun derived from the fish term.
- Lane · entry 42201
سَامِك
High or lofty; specifically, describing a high, tall, and plump camel's hump, and figuratively describing lofty nobility or high fortune.
The figurative use is a conventional extension of physical elevation.
- Lane · entry 42202
المُسْمَكَات
The heavens, traditionally the seven heavens.
A variant or alternative lexical report understands the term as a dial; the heavenly sense is the principal reported interpretation.
- Lane · entry 42203
مِسْمَاك
A pole used to raise a tent of the khibāʾ type.
The pole supports and raises the tent structure.
- Lane · entry 42204
مَسْمُوك
Tall.
Applied to a man.
- Lane · entry 42205
مَسْمُوك
Firm in the ribs.
Applied to a horse, specifically its ribs called الجوانح.
- Lane · entry 42205
مُسْتَمِك
Tall.
Used of a house or tent.
- Lane · entry 42206
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic occurrence is سَمْكَها, the noun for heaven's upper extent or ceiling, and is distinct from the homographic noun سَمَك meaning fish.
For 79:28, both a ceiling or vault reading and a height or upward-thickness reading are lexically attested; the supplied contextual gloss specifically favors “its ceiling.”