Quranic root
سخر
s · kh · r
The root centers on lowering or bringing under control: contempt and derision in one branch, and subjection or manageable service in another.
From the underlying notion of treating something as low or submissive, Form I develops the meaning “to mock,” while the causative Form II develops the meaning “to subject, render subservient, or make operate according to an intended purpose.” Related nouns denote mockery, a laughingstock, forced service, and obedient ships.
- Maqāyīs · row 2384
- 7
- Quran-attested forms
- 9
- Quran senses
- 42
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
سَخِرَ
sakhira
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 11 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.
To mock, scoff at, deride, or ridicule someone.
The Quranic construction commonly takes مِنْ or بِـ; reciprocal usage can express treating the other as ignorant or foolish in return.
- Lane · entry 40530
- Mufradāt · row 671
Selected Quran examples
سَخَّرَ
sakhkhara
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form II
- Form
- II
- Quran occurrences
- 22 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.
To subject, bring under control, or render subservient or manageable, directing a person, thing, or natural force to an intended purpose.
In the Quran this is used of celestial bodies, natural phenomena, animals, ships, and other created things made to serve an appointed order or purpose.
- Lane · entry 40531
- Mufradāt · row 671
Selected Quran examples
Quran 14:32word 16
“and subjected”
Quran 16:12word 1
“And He has subjected”
To make a force prevail against someone, sending it upon them with overpowering force.
A result-focused causative use, explicitly applied to the wind imposed upon a people.
- Lane · entry 40531
Selected Quran examples
Quran 69:7word 1
“Which He imposed”
اِسْتَسْخَرَ
āistaskhara
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form X
- Form
- X
- 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 invite or induce one another to mock, scoff at, or ridicule.
The Quranic occurrence has a reciprocal construction in which people encourage each other to engage in mockery.
- Lane · entry 40530
- Mufradāt · row 671
Selected Quran examples
Quran 37:14word 4
“they mock”
مُسَخَّر
musakhkhar
- Part of speech
- Passive participle
- Quran occurrences
- 4 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.
Made subservient, controlled, or appointed to operate under command.
The Quranic uses describe created things, including stars and other natural phenomena, as operating in an ordered course under divine control.
- Lane · entry 40540
- Mufradāt · row 671
Selected Quran examples
سِخْرِيّ
sikhriyy
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 2 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.
Mockery, scoffing, derision; in the construction of taking people as objects of ridicule or laughingstocks.
The Quranic occurrences are in a context of derision. The occurrence in 23:110 is also associated with an alternative interpretation of subjection or forced service.
- Lane · entry 40534
- Lane · entry 40536
- Mufradāt · row 671
Selected Quran examples
Quran 23:110word 2
“(in) mockery”
Quran 38:63word 2
“(in) ridicule”
Subjection or forced service: a person made subject to another’s will.
This is the alternative Quranic interpretation explicitly recognized for 23:110, alongside the interpretation “mockery.”
- Lane · entry 40531
- Mufradāt · row 671
Selected Quran examples
Quran 23:110word 2
“(in) mockery”
سُخْرِيّ
sukhriyy
- 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.
Service or subjection: a person made subject to another’s will and available for that person’s purposes.
The Quranic occurrence presents human differences in provision and status as a means by which some people are made to serve or depend on others.
- Lane · entry 40531
- Mufradāt · row 671
Selected Quran examples
Quran 43:32word 20
“(for) service”
سَاخِر
sākhir
- Part of speech
- Active 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.
One who mocks, scoffs at, or ridicules others.
The Quranic form is a definite plural active participle referring to mockers.
- Lane · entry 40535
- Lane · entry 40539
Selected Quran examples
Quran 39:56word 14
“the mockers”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:164ٱلْمُسَخَّرِ[the] controlled
- 2:212وَيَسْخَرُونَand they ridicule
- 6:10سَخِرُوا۟scoffed
- 7:54مُسَخَّرَٰتٍۭsubjected
- 9:79فَيَسْخَرُونَso they ridicule
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 14 Classical meanings
سَخِرَ
In a reported extended usage, to put someone in a position he does not regard as his right, producing a kind of mockery.
A tropical or figurative usage reported in a traditional example.
- Lane · entry 40530
سَخِرَ
To jest or speak playfully rather than seriously.
Reported in an idiomatic statement asserting that the speaker is telling the truth and is not jesting.
- Lane · entry 40530
سَخِرَ
Of a ship, to have a favorable wind and voyage, obeying the wind and running its course.
A tropical nautical usage.
- Lane · entry 40530
سَخَّرَ
To compel a servant or beast to work or serve against its will without recompense, hire, or wages; to make use of it without payment.
The evidence explicitly applies this use to servants and beasts and to unpaid work.
- Lane · entry 40531
سُخْرَة
A person who is mocked at, scoffed at, or made a laughingstock.
The form can function as a singular and, in some usage, as a plural collective.
- Lane · entry 40534
سُخْرَة
A person or animal compelled to work or serve without pay; the word is also reported for one who employs such a subjected person or animal.
Applied especially to servants or beasts. The extension to the employer is explicitly reported as disputed, with another authority correcting it to the employed subject.
- Lane · entry 40534
سُخَرَة
A habitual or frequent mocker of others.
An intensive agent noun.
- Lane · entry 40535
سُخْرِيّ
Mockery, scoffing, derision, or ridicule.
A broader Classical Arabic nominal use; the Quranic occurrence under this vocalization is separately presented with the service or subjection sense.
- Lane · entry 40536
سُخَّر
A herb or leguminous plant identified in the evidence with the plant called سَيْكُرَان.
A rare regional botanical usage associated with Khurasan.
- Lane · entry 40537
سَوَاخِر
Ships that obey and have a favorable wind.
A plural nautical expression for ships making a good voyage.
- Lane · entry 40538
سَخَّرَ
To make a ship obey and run its course, with a favorable wind and voyage.
A tropical causative nautical construction.
- Lane · entry 40531
مَسْخَرَة
An occasion or cause of mockery, scoffing, derision, or ridicule.
It may describe a circumstance or a person who becomes an object of ridicule.
- Lane · entry 40539
مَسْخَرَة
A person who mocks, scoffs at, or ridicules others.
A secondary Classical Arabic agent use of the same noun.
- Lane · entry 40539
مُسَخَّر
One constrained or compelled, brought into subjection, and unable to free himself from the constraint.
A general passive-participial description of a subjected person or thing, distinct from the Quranic natural-order use presented above.
- Lane · entry 40540
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
سِخْرِيّ in 23:110 is explicitly reported with two interpretations: mockery and subjection or forced service; the examples and senses preserve both rather than forcing a single reading.
The vocalized forms سِخْرِيّ and سُخْرِيّ overlap in broader Classical Arabic evidence, while the Quranic contexts supplied here favor mockery for 23:110 and 38:63 and service or subjection for 43:32.