Quranic root
وذر
w · dh · r
The Quranic branch of وذر centers on putting someone or something aside: leaving it alone, desisting from it, abandoning it, or leaving it behind.
The Quranic verb preserves a defective Form I paradigm: the imperfect يَذَرُ and imperative ذَرْ are used, while the perfect and infinitive are reported as largely disused and replaced by forms of ترك. Classical lexical evidence separately records a piece of flesh, الوَذَرَةُ, and the wound-incision term التَّوْذِيرُ.
- Lane · entry 45126
- Mufradāt · row 1565
- Maqāyīs · row 5073
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 45
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
وَذَرَ
wadhara
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 45 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 leave, let alone, or desist from someone or something; to leave an action undone.
Includes direct-object constructions such as ذَرْهُ and ذَرْنِي. In وَذَرْنِي وَ... it can mean to leave the matter or persons to the speaker’s handling rather than occupy oneself with them.
- Lane · entry 45126
- Mufradāt · row 1565
Selected Quran examples
Quran 73:11word 1
“And leave Me”
Quran 15:3word 1
“Leave them”
To cast off, abandon, relinquish, or leave behind someone or something rather than retain it.
The Quran-focused lexical explanation connects this use with casting something away because it is held in little regard. It appears in abandoning ancestral worship, relinquishing usury, and in وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَاجًا, leaving wives behind.
- Mufradāt · row 1565
Selected Quran examples
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:234وَيَذَرُونَand leave behind
- 2:240وَيَذَرُونَand leave behind
- 2:278وَذَرُوا۟and give up
- 3:179لِيَذَرَto leave
- 4:129فَتَذَرُوهَاand leave her (the other)
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 3 Classical meanings
الوَذَرَةُ
A piece or fragment of meat.
A concrete nominal use recorded in the classical lexical tradition.
- Maqāyīs · row 5073
التَّوْذِيرُ
The act of slitting or opening a wound.
A derived verbal-noun usage for cutting into a wound.
- Maqāyīs · row 5073
الوَذَر
In the insulting expression يا ابنَ شامَّةِ الوَذَر, an allusion to the male sexual organs.
A rare idiomatic usage reported in connection with a classical hadith expression.
- Maqāyīs · row 5073
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The perfect وَذَرَ is also reported as وَذِرَ; the perfect and infinitive وَذْر are described as rare or disused, with forms of ترك commonly used instead.
The nuance of casting something away because of little regard is explicit in the Quran-focused explanation, but should not be imposed as a contemptuous motive on every occurrence.