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Quranic root

ورق

w · r · q

The root centers on tree leaves and foliage, with extensions to wealth or money through the abundance of leaves, and a distinct branch for ash-grey or dusky color.

The leaf sense develops figurative associations with abundance, wealth, and silver; a separate color branch describes ash-grey hues and related terms for barren years and unsuccessful seeking.

  • Maqāyīs · row 5086
  • Mufradāt · row 1568
3
Quran-attested forms
3
Quran senses
4
Quran occurrences

Forms in the Quran

The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.

وَرَق

waraq

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.

  1. Leaves or foliage of a tree.

    Used as a collective or plural foliage term in the supplied Quranic occurrences.

    • Mufradāt · row 1568
    Selected Quran examples

    Quran 7:22word 13

    (the) leaves

    Quran 20:121word 10

    (the) leaves

وَرَقَة

waraqah

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.

  1. A single leaf of a tree.

    The singulative counterpart of وَرَق in the Quranic expression concerning any individual leaf.

    • Mufradāt · row 1568
    Selected Quran examples

    Quran 6:59word 16

    any leaf

وَرِق

wariq

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.

  1. Silver money or coined silver, including dirhams.

    A money term distinguished by its vocalization from وَرَق meaning leaves.

    • Lane · entry 30449
    • Mufradāt · row 1568
    Selected Quran examples

    Quran 18:19word 23

    with this silver coin of yours

Occurrences in the Quran

Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.

  • 6:59وَرَقَةٍany leaf
  • 7:22وَرَقِ(the) leaves
  • 18:19بِوَرِقِكُمْwith this silver coin of yours
  • 20:121وَرَقِ(the) leaves
View all 4 occurrences

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 13 Classical meanings
  • وَرَق

    Wealth or abundant money, figuratively compared with the abundance of leaves.

    A figurative wealth sense distinct from وَرِق as coined silver.

    • Maqāyīs · row 5086
    • Mufradāt · row 1568
  • وَرَاق

    The greenness of the ground produced by grass.

    Explicitly distinguished from the leaves of trees.

    • Maqāyīs · row 5086
  • وَرَقَ، وَرَّقَ

    To take or remove the leaves from a tree.

    A transitive verbal use describing the stripping of a tree's foliage.

    • Maqāyīs · row 5086
    • Mufradāt · row 1568
  • وَارِق

    Leafy; describing a tree with leaves, especially one with abundant foliage.

    Used adjectivally of trees or a tree's leafy covering.

    • Lane · entry 30453
    • Mufradāt · row 1568
  • أَوْرَاق

    Events or occurrences.

    A specialized plural usage of وَرَق distinct from the foliage sense.

    • Lane · entry 30450
  • وَرْقَة

    A hidden knot or protuberance within a branch.

    A specialized noun sense distinct from وَرَقَة meaning a leaf.

    • Maqāyīs · row 5086
  • وَرَقَة

    A piece or clot of blood; its plural is وَرَق.

    The plural is explained by comparison with fallen leaves.

    • Maqāyīs · row 5086
  • وَرَق

    Weak men, figuratively likened to leaves in their weakness.

    A figurative plural usage referring specifically to weak people.

    • Maqāyīs · row 5086
  • أَوْرَقَ

    To fail to obtain what one seeks; of a hunter, to find that the prey has escaped or the hunt has failed.

    An idiomatic extension from leaves covering a hunter's snare, also applied generally to an unsuccessful seeker.

    • Maqāyīs · row 5086
    • Mufradāt · row 1568
  • عَام أَوْرَق

    A barren or rainless year.

    The expression is associated with the ash-like appearance of a drought-stricken land.

    • Maqāyīs · row 5086
    • Mufradāt · row 1568
  • وُرْقَة

    An ash-grey or ash-like color.

    A color noun, distinct from the foliage noun وَرَقَة.

    • Lane · entry 30451
  • أَوْرَق

    Dusky, ash-grey, or white tending toward black.

    An adjective used of a camel and, in the broader lexical evidence, of other beings having this hue.

    • Lane · entry 30454
    • Maqāyīs · row 5086
    • Mufradāt · row 1568
  • أَوْرَق

    Ashes.

    A separate nominal use recorded for the same lexical form as the color adjective.

    • Lane · entry 30454

Cautions

Points that affect how this root should be read.

  • The foliage terms وَرَق and وَرَقَة are distinct from وَرِق, the silver-money term; classical evidence also records variant vocalizations for the silver word.

  • Several homonymous Classical Arabic branches—such as ash color, a hidden branch-knot, and a piece of blood—are kept separate from the Quranic foliage senses.