Quranic root
ستر
s · t · r
The root centers on covering: placing a cover over something, or using a cover, screen, or shelter to keep it concealed or protected.
From physical covering and concealment, the vocabulary extends to self-concealment, protection, shelter, modesty, and figurative concealment. The related term إِسْتَارٌ is also reported with a separate numerical sense, though its derivational relation to the root is disputed.
- Maqāyīs · row 2356
- Mufradāt · row 660
- Lane · entry 40178
- 3
- Quran-attested forms
- 4
- Quran senses
- 3
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
اِسْتَتَرَ
āistatara
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VIII
- Form
- VIII
- 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 conceal oneself; to become hidden or covered.
A reflexive or self-directed use in which the subject remains concealed or covers itself. The Quranic occurrence is the imperfect form تَسْتَتِرُونَ.
- Lane · entry 40177
- Mufradāt · row 660
Selected Quran examples
Quran 41:22word 3
“covering yourselves”
سِتْرٌ
sitrun
- 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 covering, shelter, or protective screen; anything by which a person or thing is concealed or protected.
The Quranic use denotes a means of concealment or shelter rather than the act of covering itself.
- Lane · entry 40178
- Mufradāt · row 660
Selected Quran examples
Quran 18:90word 15
“any shelter”
مَسْتُورٌ
mastūrun
- Part of speech
- Passive participle
- 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.
Covered, veiled, or hidden.
In the Quranic phrase حِجَابًا مَسْتُورًا, the veil is interpreted either as hidden from people or as covered by another veil, implying a thick or doubly veiled screen.
- Lane · entry 40190
- Mufradāt · row 660
Selected Quran examples
Quran 17:45word 12
“hidden”
Screening, preventing, or obstructing.
An exceptional active-value interpretation of مَسْتُورٌ in the same Quranic construction: the veil itself prevents, hinders, or obstructs access.
- Lane · entry 40190
Selected Quran examples
Quran 17:45word 12
“hidden”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 3 occurrencesBroader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 22 Classical meanings
سَتَرَ
To veil, conceal, hide, or cover something; to protect or safeguard another.
Transitive Form I; protection is an extended use of shielding another from harm or exposure.
- Lane · entry 40173
سَتُرَ
To be or become modest or bashful.
A stative or inchoative use describing modest conduct.
- Lane · entry 40173
سَتُرَ
To be or become intelligent.
A figurative use recorded as a separate lexical extension.
- Lane · entry 40173
سَاتَرَهُ
To conceal enmity with someone.
A Form III construction involving concealed hostility.
- Lane · entry 40175
اِسْتَتَرَ
To protect oneself from divine displeasure by piety; hence, to fear God.
Occurs in the idiomatic construction اِسْتَتَرَ مِنَ اللهِ بِسِتْرٍ.
- Lane · entry 40177
سِتْرٌ
To expose or disgrace someone by revealing his faults.
A figurative idiomatic use in هَتَكَ سِتْرَهُ, literally to rend his covering.
- Lane · entry 40178
سِتْرٌ
Fear of divine displeasure; modesty or bashfulness.
Figurative meanings associated with the protective function of a cover.
- Lane · entry 40178
سِتْرٌ
Intelligence or sound judgment.
A figurative nominal use, synonymous with عقلٌ.
- Lane · entry 40178
سَتَرٌ
A shield.
A concrete protective object.
- Lane · entry 40179
سُتْرَةٌ
A barrier placed before a person who is praying.
A physical object set up in front of the worshipper as a screening boundary.
- Lane · entry 40180
سُتْرَةٌ
A parapet or surrounding wall of a flat rooftop.
A structural barrier enclosing or screening a roof.
- Lane · entry 40180
سُتْرَةٌ
A shade or canopy.
A covering structure understood as a ظُلَّةٌ.
- Lane · entry 40180
سَتِيرٌ
Veiled, concealed, or covered.
An adjective for a person or thing kept from view; the lexical evidence records both masculine and feminine applications.
- Lane · entry 40184
سَتِيرٌ
Modest, bashful, or chaste.
A figurative adjectival extension from being kept covered or concealed.
- Lane · entry 40184
سَتِيرٌ
Dense with boughs or branches.
Applied figuratively to trees having many branches.
- Lane · entry 40184
سَتِيرٌ
Veiling or protecting; a veiler or protector.
When applied to God, the form is explained as فَعِيلٌ in the sense of فَاعِلٌ.
- Lane · entry 40184
سِتَارَةٌ
The piece of skin over the nail.
An anatomical covering.
- Lane · entry 40185
سَتَّارٌ
One who veils or conceals much, often, or well; a keeper of a curtain.
An intensive agent noun, also used for the person responsible for a curtain closing a chamber door.
- Lane · entry 40186
إِسْتَارٌ
Four; a fourth of a party or group.
A numerical use recorded separately from the covering vocabulary; its relation to the root is disputed.
- Lane · entry 40187
إِسْتَارٌ
A weight of four and a half mithqals.
A separate weight term, also reported as an Arabicized borrowing.
- Lane · entry 40187
مُسَتَّرَةٌ
Kept behind or within a curtain.
A descriptive passive form for someone kept out of view.
- Lane · entry 40191
مُسَاتِرٌ
A wheedler or cajoler who conceals enmity.
A figurative active-participial use describing concealed hostility beneath conciliatory behavior.
- Lane · entry 40192
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Form VIII public headword is normalized to the perfect اِسْتَتَرَ; the supplied Quran occurrence is an inflected imperfect form.
مَسْتُورٌ in حِجَابًا مَسْتُورًا has more than one classical interpretation, including a passive sense of being hidden or covered and an active-value sense of preventing or obstructing.