Quranic root
سمم
s · m · m
The root centers on entry or penetration into something, especially through a narrow opening; related branches describe poison entering the body, scorching wind penetrating bodies, intimate association, and reconciliation.
From the idea of an entry or perforation come the senses of a narrow opening, poison, and the penetrating hot wind called سَمُوم. Related extensions describe special intimates as those who enter into private affairs and reconciliation as bringing people into mutual involvement; a separate branch concerns lightness and agility.
- Maqāyīs · row 2478
- Mufradāt · row 726
- 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.
سَمُوم
samūm
- 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.
A scorching, penetrating hot wind; in Quranic usage, the intense scorching torment associated with such heat.
Used in expressions for exposure to scorching torment, including نار السموم and في سموم وحميم. The noun denotes the scorching wind or torment, while contextual translations may render the expression as “scorching fire.”
- Lane · entry 42029
- Mufradāt · row 726
Selected Quran examples
Quran 15:27word 7
“scorching”
Quran 52:27word 6
“(of) the Scorching Fire”
Quran 56:42word 2
“scorching fire”
سَمّ
samm
- 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.
A narrow opening or perforation, especially the eye of a needle.
In the Quranic construction in 7:40, the word denotes the tiny opening through which the camel would have to pass. The same lexical branch can describe a narrow hole or passage, but the Quranic example specifically concerns a needle’s eye.
- Lane · entry 42021
- Mufradāt · row 726
Selected Quran examples
Quran 7:40word 19
“(the) eye”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 7:40سَمِّ(the) eye
- 15:27ٱلسَّمُومِscorching
- 52:27ٱلسَّمُومِ(of) the Scorching Fire
- 56:42سَمُومٍۢscorching fire
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 52 Classical meanings
سَمَّ
To put poison into something, poison it, or give someone poison to drink; a venomous creature may likewise poison or smite a person.
Form I verb; the object may be food or a person receiving poison.
- Lane · entry 42018
سَمَّ
To suggest or hint at something.
A tentatively reported usage whose attribution is not specified in the source.
- Lane · entry 42018
سَمَّ
To perforate, pierce, or pass through something.
Reported as an apparent usage and connected in the source with the noun مَسَمٌّ, a place of passage or perforation.
- Lane · entry 42018
سَمَّ
To probe or examine an affair, seeking to learn its depth.
Tropical or extended usage applied to a case or matter.
- Lane · entry 42018
سَمَّ
To make firm or close something, especially to stop or seal an opening.
The source notes that this usage may reflect a transcription for سَدَّ, “to close.”
- Lane · entry 42018
سَمَّ
To rectify or reconcile relations between people, bringing their affairs into agreement.
Used with expressions referring to what lies between people or between two parties.
- Lane · entry 42018
سَمَّ
To string cowries or similar shells.
Applied to وَدَع, shells or cowries used as ornament.
- Lane · entry 42018
سَمَّ
To appropriate a benefit or bounty to a particular object or recipient; to become specific in its object.
The verb is reported as both transitive and intransitive.
- Lane · entry 42018
سَمَّ
To aim or direct oneself toward someone, or to pursue that person’s way or course.
Occurs in the idiom سَمَمْتُ سَمَّكَ and related expressions.
- Lane · entry 42018
سُمَّ
To be struck by the wind called سَمُوم; of a day, to be attended by that wind.
Intransitive usage describing a plant, person, or day affected by the hot wind.
- Lane · entry 42018
تَسْمِيم
Making loops on a girth, or adorning a girth with strung cowries.
A verbal noun associated with the girth called وَضِين.
- Lane · entry 42019
سَمْسَمَ
To walk or go gently; of a fox, to run in a light or characteristic manner.
The fox-related description is a particular application of the general movement sense.
- Lane · entry 42020
سَمّ
Poison or venom; also a deadly substance, including particular poisonous substances and plants used as poisons.
Variant vocalizations include سُمّ and سِمّ. The named applications include arsenic and substances used to poison fish or animals.
- Lane · entry 42021
سَمّ
In the plural, the openings or passages of the human body, including the mouth, nostrils, ears, or clefts of the skin.
A specialized plural usage distinct from the Quranic eye-of-a-needle sense.
- Lane · entry 42021
سَمّ
In a horse, the thin nasal or tear-channel portions and related veins; the term may also denote a marrow-containing bone.
Specialized equine anatomical usage with several reported explanations.
- Lane · entry 42021
سَمّ
A notch in a sword, whether newly made or old.
A specialized application of the opening or cut sense.
- Lane · entry 42021
سَمّ
The object of one’s aim or pursuit.
In the idiom أَصَابَ سَمَّ حَاجَتِهِ, it means to attain the object sought; بَصِيرٌ بِسَمِّ حَاجَتِهِ describes someone skilled in recognizing or attaining it.
- Lane · entry 42021
سَمّ
In a fixed idiom, a person’s sole concern or object; by variant interpretations, someone who seeks him, or neither little nor much.
The idiom مَا لَهُ سَمٌّ وَلَا حَمٌّ غَيْرُكَ has several reported explanations, including “he has no concern except you.”
- Lane · entry 42021
سَمّ
The loop or fastening of the girth called وَضِين.
Plural سُمُوم.
- Lane · entry 42021
سَمّ
A sea-produced shell or cowrie, especially one strung for ornament.
The word may refer either to the individual shell-like object or to strung cowries collectively.
- Lane · entry 42021
سَمَّة
The vaginal opening or vulvar cleft, including the adjacent parts of the external genital area.
An anatomical noun with a specifically feminine reference.
- Lane · entry 42024
سَمَّة
The heart or central growing core of a palm tree.
Also called سَمَّةُ القَلْبِ; distinct from the anatomical sense.
- Lane · entry 42024
سُمَّة
A woven mat or broad tray made from leaves, spread beneath a palm when dates are harvested.
Used to catch dates that fall or become scattered during harvesting.
- Lane · entry 42025
سِمَّة
The anus.
An anatomical noun; the source cross-references the related form سَمَّة.
- Lane · entry 42026
سَمَام
A small bird, described as resembling a quail or a swallow.
The word is treated as a collective or plural-like noun in some reports, with سَمَامَة as a singular form.
- Lane · entry 42027
سَمَام
A banner, ensign, or standard.
A figurative extension based on the bird designation.
- Lane · entry 42027
سَمَام
A swift she-camel.
A usage of the collective noun used as a singular expression.
- Lane · entry 42027
سَمَام
Light, active, agile, slender, or swift.
Applied to people, animals, or other things according to the reported form and context.
- Lane · entry 42027
سَمَامَة
A distinctive feather or whorl in the middle or side of a horse’s neck.
A mark regarded favorably by Arab horsemen.
- Lane · entry 42030
سَمَامَة
A person’s physical form, figure, or outward aspect.
Occurs in descriptions of someone’s pleasing or beautiful appearance.
- Lane · entry 42030
سَمَامَة
A standing portion or remnant of ruined dwellings.
A specialized architectural or archaeological usage.
- Lane · entry 42030
سَمَّاس
A seller of sesame.
A professional noun formed from سِمْسِم.
- Lane · entry 42031
سَمَّان
A certain plant.
The source directs comparison with a related entry under another root for additional detail.
- Lane · entry 42032
سِمَّان
Decorations or embellishments of a ceiling.
Reported without a clearly established singular form.
- Lane · entry 42033
سَمْسَم
A wolf, especially a small-bodied wolf.
The designation is explained by the animal’s lightness or agility.
- Lane · entry 42034
سَمْسَم
A fox.
A separate animal designation from the wolf sense.
- Lane · entry 42034
سُمْسُم
A red ant or a biting reddish insect.
The singular is also reported as سُمْسُمَة or سِمْسِمَة; the insects are described as biting painfully.
- Lane · entry 42035
سِمْسِم
Sesame, the well-known plant or its grain.
The grain is also associated with the production of sesame oil; a wild variety is separately named in the source.
- Lane · entry 42036
سِمْسِم
A serpent or a creeping creature resembling one.
A distinct lexical use from the name of the sesame plant.
- Lane · entry 42036
سَمَاسِم
A species of bird resembling a swallow, whose eggs are proverbial for being unattainable.
One interpretation of the proverb كَلَّفْتَنِي بَيْضَ السَّمَاسِمِ.
- Lane · entry 42040
سَمَاسِم
Red ants.
An alternate interpretation of the same proverb, treating the plural as derived from the red-ant noun.
- Lane · entry 42040
سَامّ
Venomous, especially of an animal or creeping thing whose venom is harmful but not normally fatal, such as a scorpion or hornet.
The feminine and plural forms are used for venomous animals or groups of them.
- Lane · entry 42042
سَامّ أَبْرَص
A species of large gecko or lizard.
A zoological name applied to both male and female animals.
- Lane · entry 42042
سَامّ
Of a day, attended by the wind called سَمُوم.
An adjectival use referring to a day affected by the hot wind.
- Lane · entry 42042
سَامَّة
A person’s special or intimate circle; distinguished people or close relations.
The word may denote people of distinction, intimate associates, or particular and choice relations, in contrast with the عامّة.
- Lane · entry 42042
سَامَّة
Death.
An explicitly reported but exceptional usage; the source says the usual form for this meaning is سَام, without the gemination and feminine ending.
- Lane · entry 42043
أَسَمّ
Having a nose that is narrow and full in the nostrils.
An adjectival description of the shape of the nose.
- Lane · entry 42044
مَسَمّ
A place of perforation or passage; a pore or opening of the body through which sweat or internal exhalation passes.
The plural مَسَامّ is a technical medical term for bodily pores.
- Lane · entry 42045
مِسَمّ
One who eats whatever he is able to eat.
A specialized agent noun.
- Lane · entry 42047
مُسَمَّم
Of a girth, furnished with loops or adorned with strung cowries.
A passive participle describing the girth called وَضِين.
- Lane · entry 42049
مَسْمُوم
Poisoned or infected with poison; of a person, given poison to drink.
Applied to food or to a person who has received poison.
- Lane · entry 42050
مَسْمُوم
Smitten by the wind called سَمُوم.
Applied to a plant or person affected by the hot wind.
- Lane · entry 42050
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic form سَمّ in 7:40 is the narrow-opening sense; the same spelling also has a separate Classical Arabic poison sense.
Several Classical entries preserve rare, dialectal, or explicitly tentative usages, especially where the source itself reports a possible transcription or limited attribution.