Quranic root
سوي
s · w · y
The root centers on straightness, balance, and proper proportion between or within things, yielding the ideas of equality, evenness, symmetry, soundness, and a central or equidistant position.
From this orientation develop the meanings of making something level or well-proportioned, being equal or alike, occupying the middle, becoming upright or settled, and directing oneself toward an intended object.
- Maqāyīs · row 2532
- Mufradāt · row 737
- 7
- Quran-attested forms
- 15
- Quran senses
- 83
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
سَوِيَ
sawiya
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- 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.
Be leveled, with the ground made level over or around someone.
Used here in the passive Quranic construction describing people being buried or reduced to the level of the earth.
- Lane · entry 42822
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:42word 8
“was leveled”
سَوَّى
sawwā
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form II
- Form
- II
- Quran occurrences
- 13 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.
Make equal, even, level, or uniform.
Includes making things equal in relation to one another and making a surface or structure level; the Quranic object may be a person, body, land, heaven, or other created thing.
- Lane · entry 42822
Selected Quran examples
Quran 26:98word 2
“we equated you”
Quran 91:14word 7
“and leveled them”
Fashion, proportion, shape, or complete something in a fitting and harmonious form.
Used of creation or formation whose parts are made congruent, complete, properly adapted, or soundly ordered.
- Lane · entry 42822
- Mufradāt · row 737
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:29word 13
“and fashioned them”
Make parts uniform or reconstitute them into their proper arrangement.
Especially relevant to the Quranic discussion of restoring or equalizing the fingers and reconstructing the body's parts.
- Lane · entry 42822
- Mufradāt · row 737
Selected Quran examples
Quran 75:4word 5
“We can restore”
سَاوَى
sāwā
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form III
- Form
- III
- 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.
Make two things level or equal with one another.
Used with two objects or sides brought to the same level, especially by filling or adjusting the space between them.
- Mufradāt · row 737
- Lane · entry 42823
Selected Quran examples
Quran 18:96word 6
“he (had) leveled”
اِسْتَوَى
āistawā
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VIII
- Form
- VIII
- Quran occurrences
- 35 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.
Become even, upright, firm, settled, or properly established.
Used of a thing becoming straight, level, steady, or settled in itself; with عَلَى it can describe becoming firmly seated or established upon something, including boarding or sitting securely.
- Lane · entry 42827
- Mufradāt · row 737
Selected Quran examples
Quran 23:28word 2
“you (have) boarded”
Be equal or alike with another or with others.
A reciprocal or multiple-subject construction comparing parties, things, or conditions.
- Lane · entry 42826
- Lane · entry 42827
- Mufradāt · row 737
Selected Quran examples
Quran 13:16word 21
“equal”
Direct oneself or turn toward something.
With إِلَى, the verb denotes directing oneself, one's will, or one's activity toward an object or destination.
- Lane · entry 42827
- Mufradāt · row 737
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:29word 10
“He turned”
Have ascendancy or established authority over.
With عَلَى, this is a conventional interpretive construction of ascendancy or mastery; the expression does not by itself prescribe a physical description.
- Lane · entry 42827
- Mufradāt · row 737
Selected Quran examples
Quran 20:5word 4
“is established”
Reach full growth or maturity.
Used of a person attaining mature development in body, strength, or intellect.
- Lane · entry 42827
Selected Quran examples
Quran 28:14word 4
“and became mature”
سَوَاء
sawāʾ
- Part of speech
- Noun / Adjective
- Quran occurrences
- 27 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.
Equality, sameness, equivalence, or likeness.
Used predicatively, adverbially, or as a noun to say that two things or alternatives are alike, equal, or of equal consequence.
- Lane · entry 42833
- Mufradāt · row 737
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:6word 4
“(it) is same”
Quran 4:89word 7
“alike”
The middle, midst, or central and equidistant position.
Used of the center of a place, the middle of a route or object, or a position equidistant from two sides.
- Lane · entry 42833
- Mufradāt · row 737
Selected Quran examples
Quran 37:55word 4
“(the) midst”
Equitable, just, right, or properly balanced.
Used of a fair proposition, judgment, arrangement, or course that stands on an equal and just basis.
- Lane · entry 42833
- Mufradāt · row 737
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:64word 7
“equitable”
سَوِيّ
sawiyy
- Part of speech
- Adjective / Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 5 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.
Sound, well-proportioned, balanced, or upright.
Describes a person, body, character, path, or condition preserved from excess and deficiency and therefore sound or properly formed.
- Lane · entry 42833
- Mufradāt · row 737
Selected Quran examples
سُوًى
suwan
- Part of speech
- Adjective
- 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.
Even, equidistant, or designated as a common meeting place.
Used adjectivally of a place that is level or midway between points; lexical interpretation also allows a marked or designated place.
- Lane · entry 42833
Selected Quran examples
Quran 20:58word 14
“even”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:6سَوَآءٌ(it) is same
- 2:29ٱسْتَوَىٰٓHe turned
- 2:29فَسَوَّىٰهُنَّand fashioned them
- 2:108سَوَآءَ(the) evenness
- 3:64سَوَآءٍۭequitable
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 35 Classical meanings
سَوِيَ
Intend or propose to oneself.
A reported and disputed attribution for Form I, distinguished from the better-attested use of اِسْتَوَى followed by إِلَى.
- Lane · entry 42821
سَاوَى
Be equivalent or worth the same in measure, size, quantity, value, quality, knowledge, or ability.
Broader Classical usage of Form III, including equivalence with a thing or competition with an equal.
- Lane · entry 42823
أَسْوَى
Be like another in physical make, symmetry, or proportion.
A Classical Form IV usage, especially of likeness between a parent and offspring.
- Lane · entry 42824
أَسْوَى
Have sexual intercourse, with complete penetration.
A specialized Classical construction with فِي followed by the sexual object.
- Lane · entry 42824
أَسْوَى
Become base, abject, vile, or ignominious.
A Form IV usage treated as related to السَّوْأَة or evil.
- Lane · entry 42824
أَسْوَى
Void one's ordure.
A bodily-function usage connected in the lexical discussion with السَّوْأَة, the anus.
- Lane · entry 42824
أَسْوَى
Drop, omit, leave out, or neglect something inadvertently.
Reported of omitting a letter, word, or verse, including in recitation or written transmission of the Quran, and also of omissions in reckoning or shooting.
- Lane · entry 42824
أَسْوَى
Become affected with leprosy or a similar evil bodily condition.
A specialized usage associated in the lexical discussion with السُّوء as an evil affection.
- Lane · entry 42824
أَسْوَى
Recover from illness or become free of a disease.
A privative or remedial Form IV usage in the same lexical family as the preceding bodily-condition sense.
- Lane · entry 42824
تَسَاوَى
Become equal or alike with one another.
Form VI, especially with two or more participants equal in a matter, property, or condition.
- Lane · entry 42826
سِيّ
A like, equal, or counterpart; in لَا سِيَّمَا, especially or above all.
The expression لَا سِيَّمَا is an exceptive or emphatic construction meaning that what follows is distinguished from or has no like among what precedes.
- Lane · entry 42829
سِيّ
A state or abundance of wealth, welfare, or prosperity.
Occurs in idioms describing what has risen to or covered one's head, figuratively meaning accumulated prosperity.
- Lane · entry 42829
سِيّ
A smooth, even desert or open tract.
The terrain is so called because its routes and surface are uniform.
- Lane · entry 42829
سِوًى
Other than, instead of, or in place of.
Used as an epithet or exceptive/locative adverb, often governing a following noun and corresponding to غَيْر.
- Lane · entry 42832
سِوًى
The departure or loss of one's intellect or judgment.
Occurs in the idiom عَقْلُكَ سِوَاكَ, literally that one's intellect has gone away from him.
- Lane · entry 42832
سِوًى
The direction or destination toward which one tends.
A rare use in which سِوَى means the direction or intended object of one's movement or attention.
- Lane · entry 42832
سَوَاء
The summit or upper central part of a mountain, hill, or stony elevation.
A specialized topographical extension from the idea of a central or prominent level.
- Lane · entry 42833
سَوَاء
Complete or whole.
Used adjectivally or adverbially of something whose measure or make is complete; this Classical interpretation is kept separate from the Quranic equality and middle senses.
- Lane · entry 42833
سَوَاء
The lunar night when the moon's illumination is even, traditionally the thirteenth or fourteenth night.
A calendrical expression, with variation among authorities concerning the exact night.
- Lane · entry 42833
سَوِيَّة
A simple pack vehicle or padded covering placed on the back of a camel, ass, or similar animal.
Associated especially with the conveyance of female slaves or people of limited means; also called حَوِيَّة in one form.
- Lane · entry 42837
سَوَّاء لَوَّاء
A changeable condition that alternates between straightness and crookedness, gathering and separation.
A proverbial expression applied to a person or situation that does not remain in one state.
- Lane · entry 42839
سَوَّاء
Land whose surface or soil resembles sand.
A specialized description of terrain.
- Lane · entry 42839
سَايَة
A prepared speech, especially a deceptive or harmful speech contrived against someone.
Used in the expression ضَرَبَ لِي سَايَةَ, with disagreement over its derivation.
- Lane · entry 42840
أَسْوَى
More or most even, uniform, or equitable.
A comparative or superlative adjective applied to places or arrangements.
- Lane · entry 42841
تَسْوَاء
An even or level place.
A rare noun with an augmentative ت.
- Lane · entry 42842
مُسْوٍ
Being in a good, sound, or right condition.
Used in a greeting formula about the welfare of one's children and livestock; the transmitted form is distinguished from the related participle مُسْتَوٍ.
- Lane · entry 42843
اِسْتَوَى
Be covered by the earth, perish in the earth, or be buried.
Used with the earth or over a buried person to describe the ground becoming level with or over him.
- Lane · entry 42827
اِسْتَوَى
Become uniformly barren or drought-stricken.
Used of land whose surface becomes uniformly affected by drought or barrenness.
- Lane · entry 42827
اِسْتَوَى
Become symmetrical, congruous, complete, or properly adjusted.
A quasi-passive or intransitive Classical development describing a thing as having acquired suitable and consistent form.
- Lane · entry 42827
اِسْتَوَى
Become thoroughly cooked.
Used of food reaching a fully cooked state.
- Lane · entry 42827
اِسْتَوَى
The equinoctial line or state of equal day and night.
Preserved as the technical noun خط الاستواء, the equinoctial line.
- Lane · entry 42827
سَوَّى
Rectify, adjust, or put an affair into a right or good state.
A broader Classical use of Form II applied to an affair, plan, or condition rather than to a physical object.
- Lane · entry 42822
سَوَّى
Frame or devise a stratagem or plot.
A specialized figurative use describing the deliberate construction of a scheme.
- Lane · entry 42822
سَوَّى
Cook food thoroughly.
The transitive Form II counterpart of food becoming fully cooked.
- Lane · entry 42822
سُوِّيَ
Be altered or changed for the worse.
A reported passive or quasi-passive form, with the transmitted vocalization noted as uncertain.
- Lane · entry 42822
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The QAC Form I group is retained as authoritative for form accounting, although its Quranic surface تُسَوَّىٰ and the lexical explanation cited for it correspond closely to the passive leveling construction discussed under Form II.
The Form VIII construction اِسْتَوَى عَلَى has several reported interpretive renderings, including becoming established and having ascendancy or mastery; the entry records the lexical construction without imposing a physical interpretation.
Several Lane Quran references use historical citation conventions that do not align mechanically with modern verse numbering; Quran example locations here are taken only from the supplied QAC locations.
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
Lane's phrase السِّوَاءُ وَاللِّوَاءُ is translated as seeking or demanding aid, but Lane expressly states that the independent lexical meaning of السِّوَاء in that phrase is not explained, so it is not assigned a dictionary sense.