Quranic root
تسع
t · s · ʿ
The root centers on the number nine and the act of reaching or occupying the ninth position.
From the cardinal number nine, the lexical field extends to becoming or making a group nine, taking a ninth part, ordinal uses, nine-day intervals, and named groups of three nights ending with the ninth night.
- Maqāyīs · row 932
- Mufradāt · row 184
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 7
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
تِسْعَةٌ
tisʿahun
- Part of speech
- Cardinal numeral
- Quran occurrences
- 7 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.
The cardinal number nine; a quantity or group of nine.
The Quranic forms include تِسْعٌ and تِسْعَةٌ, distributed according to the grammatical gender of the counted noun. The same cardinal value occurs as the nine component in تِسْعٌ وَتِسْعُونَ, “ninety-nine,” and تِسْعَةَ عَشَرَ, “nineteen.”
- Lane · entry 16675
- Mufradāt · row 184
Selected Quran examples
Quran 17:101word 4
“nine”
Quran 27:48word 4
“nine”
Quran 38:23word 5
“ninety-nine”
Quran 74:30word 2
“(are) nine”
Ninety, the tens numeral formed with nine.
The Quranic surface form is تِسْعُونَ in the expression تِسْعٌ وَتِسْعُونَ نَعْجَةً, where it denotes ninety rather than nine in isolation.
- Lane · entry 16676
- Mufradāt · row 184
Selected Quran examples
Quran 38:23word 6
“ninety-nine”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 7 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 14 Classical meanings
تَسَعَ
To take a ninth part of a people's possessions.
A Form I verbal use concerning division of property.
- Lane · entry 16667
- Mufradāt · row 184
تَسَعَ
To become the ninth member of a group, or by joining it to make a group of eight into nine.
A Form I verbal use describing the subject's addition to an existing group.
- Lane · entry 16667
- Mufradāt · row 184
تَسَّعَ
To make something nine.
A Form II causative use; this is distinct from the temporal idiom recorded below.
- Lane · entry 16668
تَسَّعَ
To remain nine nights with one's wife.
A conventional temporal use, which is also said to extend analogically to other actions or sayings.
- Lane · entry 16668
أَتْسَعَ
To become nine, or to become ninety.
The supplied Form IV entry records the subject as reaching either of these numerical totals.
- Lane · entry 16669
أَتْسَعَ
To be on a nine-day watering interval, of camels.
The interval is described as nine days, with eight nights between waterings.
- Lane · entry 16669
تُسْعٌ
A ninth part; one of nine equal parts.
A fractional noun distinct from the cardinal numeral.
- Lane · entry 16671
- Mufradāt · row 184
تِسْعٌ
A ninth-day watering interval for camels.
A named interval in camel watering practice, counted as nine days or eight nights between waterings.
- Lane · entry 16672
- Mufradāt · row 184
تِسْعٌ
The ninth young one or offspring.
A specialized nominal use for birth order.
- Lane · entry 16672
تُسَعٌ
A set of three nights of the lunar month ending with the ninth night.
Usually the seventh, eighth, and ninth nights; one reported view applies the term to the first three nights instead.
- Lane · entry 16673
تِسْعُونَ
The ordinal “ninetieth.”
An ordinal use distinct from the Quran-attested cardinal sense “ninety.”
- Lane · entry 16676
تَاسِعٌ
Ninth; one who or that which makes a group of eight nine by joining it.
The ordinal and its underlying participial relation are recorded together; compounds such as تَاسِعَ عَشَرَ denote “nineteenth.”
- Lane · entry 16679
تَاسُوعَاءُ
The tenth day of Muḥarram, or the day before ʿĀshūrāʾ according to the reported usage.
A post-classical or disputedly classical calendrical term, also reported as a name for the same day as ʿĀshūrāʾ.
- Lane · entry 16680
مَتْسُوعٌ
A rope consisting of nine strands.
A concrete noun for a nine-stranded rope.
- Lane · entry 16682
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The supplied QAC grouping combines the cardinal forms تِسْعٌ and تِسْعَةٌ with the surface form تِسْعُونَ at 38:23; the latter is therefore represented explicitly as the Quranic sense “ninety.”
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
lane-unit:tsE:16677:g1:main records تُسَاعَ as potentially meaning “nine and nine” or “nine at a time,” but states that the form seems not to have been in use; it is retained as an unresolved lexical report rather than treated as an established meaning.