Quranic root
سنه
s · n · h
The root has a basic orientation toward time, especially the year and the passage of years.
From the notion of a year or the passing of years, the evidence develops usages for aging and alteration, annual recurrence, yearly contracts, and a year characterized by drought.
- Maqāyīs · row 2506
- Mufradāt · row 731
- Lane · entry 42438
- Lane · entry 42440
- Lane · entry 42441
- 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.
تَسَنَّهَ
tasannaha
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form V
- Form
- V
- 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 become altered for the worse through the passage of years; to lose freshness or become spoiled with age.
In the supplied Quranic occurrence, the verb is negated and is said of food and drink: they had not undergone alteration through the lapse of years.
- Lane · entry 42440
- Mufradāt · row 731
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:259word 42
“change with time”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:259يَتَسَنَّهْ ۖchange with time
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 9 Classical meanings
سَانَهَ
To make an engagement or contract for work by the year; to hire or employ someone on a yearly basis.
A Form III construction used with a person or work arrangement, with the yearly period expressed as the basis of the contract.
- Lane · entry 42438
سَانَهَتِ النَّخْلَةُ
Of a palm-tree: to bear in one year and not in the next.
A conventional description of alternate-year bearing.
- Lane · entry 42438
أَسْنَهَ
To experience drought or barrenness.
In the cited usage, the final radical is changed to ت, giving forms such as أَسْنَتُوا.
- Lane · entry 42439
تَسَنَّهَ
To remain, stay, dwell, or abide with someone for a year.
Used with a person or that person’s abode, with the duration of a year understood.
- Lane · entry 42440
تَسَنَّهَ
To undergo the passage of years; to age over time.
Said of a palm-tree and, more generally, of other things that have endured the lapse of years. This broader classical use is distinct from the Quranic use concerning alteration of food and drink.
- Lane · entry 42440
سَنَةٌ
A year; a period of time corresponding broadly to a full year.
Used as a synonym of حَوْلٌ or عَامٌ. One reported distinction treats سَنَةٌ as longer than عَامٌ, while the evidence also records the two as synonyms. It may be applied tropically to a single season or quarter.
- Lane · entry 42441
سَنَةٌ
Drought, barrenness, or a year of severe dearth.
A specialized use of the year-word for drought-afflicted conditions; it may be said of land or people affected by drought and of a year lacking rain or herbage.
- Lane · entry 42441
- Mufradāt · row 731
سَنِهٌ / مُتَسَنِّهٌ
Of food or drink: aged through the lapse of years and consequently stale, mouldy, musty, or spoiled.
Applied especially to bread, food, and beverages that have deteriorated with age.
- Lane · entry 42443
- Lane · entry 42446
سَنْهَاءُ
Of a palm-tree: bearing in one year and not another, or being affected by a year of drought; of a year: lacking herbage or rain.
The adjective is applied according to the noun described, especially a palm-tree or a drought-stricken year.
- Lane · entry 42444
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The supplied QAC inventory contains only the Form V verb occurrence; nominal Quran citations discussed in the lexical evidence are therefore retained as classical lexical entries rather than assigned to an additional QAC form.
The Mufradat discussion explicitly distinguishes سِنَةٌ in لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ [2:255] from this root, deriving that usage from الوسن; it is not included here as a sense of س ن ه.