Quranic root
ثبت
th · b · t
The root centers on the continuance, persistence, and firmness of something: what remains in place, endures, or becomes established.
From remaining and being firm, the root develops meanings of steadfastness, making something firm, establishing or confirming it, and—by extension—immobilizing or securing it. Related derived usages include deliberate verification and seeking confirmation.
- Maqāyīs · row 992
- Mufradāt · row 196
- 6
- Quran-attested forms
- 7
- Quran senses
- 18
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
ثَبَتَ
thabata
- 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.
To be firm or stand fast.
The Quranic occurrence is an imperative exhortation to remain firm when encountering an opposing force.
- Mufradāt · row 196
- Lane · entry 27102
Selected Quran examples
Quran 8:45word 7
“then be firm”
ثَبَّتَ
thabbata
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form II
- Form
- II
- Quran occurrences
- 10 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 make firm, strengthen, or render steadfast.
Used causatively of strengthening people, resolve, conviction, or the effective results of action; the Quranic discussions include strengthening believers and making knowledge or deeds more firmly established.
- Mufradāt · row 196
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:250word 10
“and make firm”
Quran 8:12word 8
“so strengthen”
Quran 17:74word 3
“We (had) strengthened you”
أَثْبَتَ
ʾathbata
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form IV
- Form
- IV
- 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 immobilize, confine, or hinder someone so that he cannot proceed or move freely.
In the Quranic construction concerning the plot against the Prophet, the verb is explained as confining him, rendering him unable to rise, and hindering or perplexing him.
- Lane · entry 27105
- Mufradāt · row 196
Selected Quran examples
Quran 8:30word 6
“that they restrain you”
To establish, affirm, or confirm something as valid or existent.
This is the establishing or confirming sense, distinct from rendering a person immobile.
- Lane · entry 27105
- Mufradāt · row 196
Selected Quran examples
Quran 13:39word 5
“and confirms”
تَثْبِيت
tathbīt
- 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.
Strengthening, making firm, or securing steadfastness.
In the Quranic discussions, this includes strengthening conviction by compelling proofs and making knowledge, conduct, or the fruits of action more firmly established.
- Mufradāt · row 196
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:265word 8
“and certainty”
Quran 4:66word 27
“strengthen(ing)”
ثَابِت
thābit
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- 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.
Firm, established, or enduring.
Used of something firmly rooted or established; the Quranic occurrences describe the firmly established word.
- Lane · entry 27115
- Mufradāt · row 196
Selected Quran examples
Quran 14:24word 12
“(is) firm”
Quran 14:27word 6
“with the firm word”
ثُبُوت
thubūt
- 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.
Remaining fixed; firm establishment or stability.
The Quranic occurrence describes something being firmly planted or established.
- Lane · entry 27102
Selected Quran examples
Quran 16:94word 9
“it is firmly planted”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:250وَثَبِّتْand make firm
- 2:265وَتَثْبِيتًۭاand certainty
- 3:147وَثَبِّتْand make firm
- 4:66تَثْبِيتًۭاstrengthen(ing)
- 8:11وَيُثَبِّتَand make firm
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
ثَبَتَ
To stand or become established as a fact or truth; to prove sound, valid, real, certain, true, or correct.
A truth, claim, or matter may be described as established or verified.
- Lane · entry 27102
ثَبَتَ
To remain, dwell, or abide in a place.
Used with a place as the location in which one remains.
- Lane · entry 27102
ثَبَتَ
Of locusts, to stick their tails into the ground in order to lay their eggs.
A specialized description of the locusts' action.
- Lane · entry 27102
ثَبَتَ
To hold fast or persist in an affair.
Used with عَلَى to express continuing firmly with a matter.
- Lane · entry 27102
ثَبَتَ
To remain or become permanent, especially of a case, state, or condition.
Includes an idiomatic use wishing that someone's condition remain lasting.
- Lane · entry 27102
ثَبَتَ
To become binding, obligatory, incumbent, or due.
Used of an obligation, debt, duty, sentence, or entitlement becoming established for or against someone.
- Lane · entry 27102
ثَبَتَ
To belong or appertain as an attribute, quality, or property.
Used to express that a characteristic is affirmable or predicable of someone or something.
- Lane · entry 27102
ثَبُتَ
To be firm-minded, self-controlled, and steady in understanding, speech, or combat; to be courageous and seldom to err.
Applied especially to a person or horseman who is firm of heart in war or earnest in the charge.
- Lane · entry 27102
ثَبَّتَ
To hinder, withhold, or prevent someone from carrying out an affair.
Used with عَنِ to express holding someone back from an action.
- Lane · entry 27103
مُثَابَتَةٌ
Vying with another in firmness or steadiness.
A conventional noun for reciprocal or competitive steadfastness.
- Lane · entry 27104
أَثْبَتَ
To make a spear penetrate a body so that part remains within while its extremity protrudes.
A specialized construction describing the result of a thrust.
- Lane · entry 27105
أَثْبَتَ
To make someone fast with a bond, ligature, or other restraint.
Distinct from merely establishing a matter: the object is physically secured.
- Lane · entry 27105
أَثْبَتَ
To ascertain, recognize, or verify something with certainty.
Includes knowing a person or thing surely and verifying its true state.
- Lane · entry 27105
أَثْبَتَ
To write, register, or record a person's name in a register.
Used especially of entering a name in a register of soldiers, pensioners, or accounts.
- Lane · entry 27105
أَثْبَتَ
To make or declare something binding, obligatory, incumbent, or due.
Used of imposing an obligation or making a sentence take effect upon someone.
- Lane · entry 27105
أَثْبَتَ
To affirm or predicate an attribute, quality, or property of someone or something.
The object is asserted to possess the stated characteristic.
- Lane · entry 27105
أَثْبَتَ
To authorize a word, signification, or expression.
A specialized usage concerning the authorization or acceptance of an expression or meaning.
- Lane · entry 27105
أَثْبَتَ
To keep fast to someone, scarcely leaving him; of illness, to cling to or remain with someone.
The construction may describe either persistent attachment or a malady that does not leave the sufferer.
- Lane · entry 27105
تَثَبَّتَ
To proceed deliberately and without haste; in an affair, to investigate or seek information before acting.
Used with an affair, opinion, judgment, or counsel; the careful investigation sense is included with the deliberate-procedure sense.
- Lane · entry 27106
اِسْتَثْبَتَ
To seek or demand confirmation, evidence, proof, verification, assurance, or certain information; to assure oneself of the true state of a matter.
Includes seeking an affirmation and checking that something is sound or correct.
- Lane · entry 27107
اِسْتَثْبَتَ
To make someone firm of heart.
This meaning is reported as an alternative usage; its immediate transitivity is expressly treated as disputed.
- Lane · entry 27107
ثَبْتٌ
A person firm or steady of heart, deliberate in conduct, courageous in combat, intelligent, and self-controlled.
It may describe one who does not leave his station, is firm-footed in contention, or whose speech does not slip in disputes.
- Lane · entry 27108
ثَبَتٌ
Firmness or steadiness of heart in war, especially during a charge or at the point of death.
A noun for courage and composure in a perilous encounter.
- Lane · entry 27109
ثَبَتٌ
Proof, evidence, or a voucher.
Used as the ground on which a judgment or assertion is made.
- Lane · entry 27109
ثَبَتٌ
An authoritative, trustworthy, just, and exact witness or relater.
Applied to a person whose reliability makes him evidence for what he relates.
- Lane · entry 27109
ثَبَتٌ
An index or table in which a transmitter of traditions lists what he related and his authorities.
A technical usage associated with tradition transmitters.
- Lane · entry 27109
ثَبَاتٌ
Continuance, permanence, endurance, stability, firmness, or establishedness; also soundness, validity, certainty, or truth.
A nominal expression covering persistence in a fixed state and the resulting established or certain status of a matter.
- Lane · entry 27110
ثُبَاتٌ
A disease that renders a person unable to move.
A specialized, figurative description of immobilizing illness.
- Lane · entry 27111
ثِبَاتٌ
A binding strap, thong, or tie, including the ties of a face veil and the strap used to bind a camel's saddle.
This is a distinct noun from the stability-related forms, despite the related root.
- Lane · entry 27112
ثَبِيتٌ
Firm in intellect, understanding, strength, or heart, especially in war.
An adjectival description of mental or martial steadiness.
- Lane · entry 27114
ثَبِيتٌ
Of a horse, sharp, light, or active in running.
A specialized equine use.
- Lane · entry 27114
ثَابِتٌ
Continuing, dwelling, or remaining in a place, or lasting for a long time.
The adjective is used of abiding persons or things, fixed stars, and years that last long.
- Lane · entry 27115
مُثْبَتٌ
Bound or secured with the strap or thong called ثِبَات.
Applied to something fastened to a camel's saddle.
- Lane · entry 27116
مُثْبَتٌ
Motionless or bedridden because of illness, a wound, old age, or another disabling cause.
Describes one who cannot move or does not leave the bed.
- Lane · entry 27116
مُثْبَتٌ
Affirmed or affirmative, as opposed to denied or negated.
Used of an affirmative sentence or statement.
- Lane · entry 27116
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
Form I is displayed under the normalized perfect citation form ثَبَتَ even though the supplied Quran occurrence is an imperative form.
The Form IV Quran occurrences exhibit two materially distinct uses—immobilizing or confining and establishing or confirming—and these are kept as separate senses.
The reported Form X meaning 'to make firm of heart' is retained as a qualified classical usage because the supplied evidence records a dispute about its immediate transitivity.