Quranic root
تبر
t · b · r
The root has two sharply separate classical branches: perishing and destruction, and تِبْرٌ, unworked native metal or ore.
The destruction branch runs from intransitive perishing to breaking up, doing away with, and destroying through derived forms, with nouns for destruction and the resulting ruined state. A separate nominal branch refers chiefly to native or unwrought gold, while also extending to silver and other ores.
- Maqāyīs · row 900
- Lane · entry 16447
- Lane · entry 16448
- Lane · entry 16449
- 4
- Quran-attested forms
- 4
- Quran senses
- 6
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
تَبَّرَ
tabbara
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form II
- Form
- II
- 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.
To break up, crumble, do away with, or destroy; to bring to ruin.
Transitive Form II verb; the Quranic uses describe bringing something or someone to ruin through destructive action.
- Lane · entry 16448
- Mufradāt · row 173
Selected Quran examples
Quran 17:7word 20
“and to destroy”
Quran 25:39word 6
“We destroyed”
مُتَبَّر
mutabbar
- 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.
Broken up and destroyed; ruined.
Passive participle and result-state of تَبَّرَ, describing something reduced to ruin.
- Lane · entry 16452
- Mufradāt · row 173
Selected Quran examples
Quran 7:139word 3
“destroyed”
تَبَار
tabār
- Part of speech
- Verbal 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.
Destruction; perdition.
Verbal noun of the Form I destruction branch, used as a noun denoting ruin or destruction.
- Lane · entry 16451
- Mufradāt · row 173
Selected Quran examples
Quran 71:28word 15
“(in) destruction”
تَتْبِير
tatbīr
- Part of speech
- Verbal 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.
Breaking up and destruction; bringing to ruin.
Form II verbal noun naming the destructive action or its resulting ruin.
- Lane · entry 16448
- Mufradāt · row 173
Selected Quran examples
Quran 17:7word 23
“(with) destruction”
Quran 25:39word 7
“(with) destruction”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 7:139مُتَبَّرٌۭdestroyed
- 17:7وَلِيُتَبِّرُوا۟and to destroy
- 17:7تَتْبِيرًا(with) destruction
- 25:39تَبَّرْنَاWe destroyed
- 25:39تَتْبِيرًۭا(with) destruction
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 8 Classical meanings
تَبِرَ
To perish; come to ruin.
Intransitive Form I verb.
- Lane · entry 16447
تَبَرَ
To break something up or into small pieces, crumble it, do away with it, or destroy it.
Transitive Form I construction, distinct from intransitive تَبِرَ “to perish”; تَبْرٌ is also attested as its verbal noun.
- Lane · entry 16448
- Mufradāt · row 173
تِبْرٌ
Native or unworked metal, especially gold; also silver and other mineral ores before they are wrought or used.
Especially applied to gold dust, nuggets, or broken particles; its application is also extended to silver and other native ores or minerals.
- Lane · entry 16449
تِبْرٌ
Broken pieces of glass.
A distinct additional lexical application of تِبْرٌ.
- Lane · entry 16449
تِبْرِيَةٌ
Scurf formed at the roots of the hair, resembling bran.
Dialectal variant of هِبْرِيَةٌ.
- Lane · entry 16450
مُتَبَّر
Brought to nought, of counsel or a plan.
Figurative or conventional predication of counsel that has been rendered useless.
- Lane · entry 16452
مَتْبُور
Destroyed; in a state of destruction.
Adjectival description of a person or thing in a ruined state.
- Lane · entry 16453
مَتْبُور
Defective or deficient.
An adjectival use distinct from the direct sense of being destroyed.
- Lane · entry 16453
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The destruction vocabulary and تِبْرٌ meaning unworked metal or ore are separate lexical branches of the root; the metal sense does not apply to the Quranic destruction forms.
The scope of تِبْرٌ varies in Classical usage: it is chiefly associated with native gold, but is also extended to silver, other ores, and, in a distinct attestation, broken glass.