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Quranic root

وسق

w · s · q

The root centers on bringing dispersed things together and carrying or holding them as a collected load.

The basic orientation of gathering and carrying yields concrete terms for a measured load and a gathered herd, as well as Quranic uses for what night gathers and for the moon's attaining coherent fullness.

  • Maqāyīs · row 5108
  • Mufradāt · row 1575
2
Quran-attested forms
2
Quran senses
2
Quran occurrences

Forms in the Quran

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

وَسَقَ

wasaqa

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.

  1. To gather and contain what is dispersed.

    In the Quranic expression وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ, the object is understood as what night gathers, including the darkness or nocturnal things and visitors.

    • Mufradāt · row 1575
    Selected Quran examples

    Quran 84:17word 3

    it envelops

اِتَّسَقَ

āittasaqa

Part of speech
Verb · Form VIII
Form
VIII
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. To come together into a coherent, complete, and orderly state.

    In the Quranic description of the moon, it denotes attaining fullness or becoming fully coherent and regular.

    • Mufradāt · row 1575
    Selected Quran examples

    Quran 84:18word 3

    it becomes full

Occurrences in the Quran

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

  • 84:17وَسَقَit envelops
  • 84:18ٱتَّسَقَit becomes full
View all 2 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 7 Classical meanings
  • وَسْقٌ

    A camel's load; by extension, a conventional measure of sixty ṣāʿs.

    A noun for a defined load or measure.

    • Lane · entry 30497
    • Mufradāt · row 1575
  • أَوْسَقَ

    To load a camel with its burden.

    A causative Form IV use applied to loading a camel.

    • Mufradāt · row 1575
  • وَسَّقَ

    To make grain into a wasq, assigning it to the standard load measure.

    A causative Form II use applied specifically to grain being made into a wasq.

    • Mufradāt · row 1575
  • وَسِقَ

    To hold or carry water, said of the eye.

    Used of the eye retaining water; also found in the idiomatic expression “as long as my eye holds water.”

    • Mufradāt · row 1575
  • وَاسِقٌ / مَوَاسِيقُ

    A she-camel, or camels, bearing a load.

    An adjectival or substantivized description of female camel(s) carrying their loads.

    • Mufradāt · row 1575
  • وَسِيقَةٌ

    A gathered or driven herd or mob of camels or cattle.

    A collective noun for animals assembled and moved together.

    • Lane · entry 30498
    • Mufradāt · row 1575
  • مِيسَاقٌ

    A bird that flaps its wings while flying.

    A rare lexical item; the form may also be pronounced with hamza.

    • Maqāyīs · row 5108

Cautions

Points that affect how this root should be read.

  • The Quranic interpretation of what night gathers in 84:17 is reported in more than one way: as darkness or as nocturnal things and visitors.

  • مِيسَاقٌ is reported as a rare, anomalous lexical branch rather than a central application of the root.