Quranic root
خمص
kh · m · ṣ
A root orientation of contraction, drawing inward, and bodily thinness or hollowness.
The semantic development centers on a shrunken or hollowed form: a lean belly, a slender waist, and the hollow of the foot; from the shrunken belly it extends to hunger and famine. The explanation connecting the garment term خميصة to the waist is presented as tentative.
- Maqāyīs · row 1646
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 1
- 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.
مَخْمَصَة
makhmaṣah
- 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.
Famine or hunger causing the belly to become shrunken or empty.
A noun denoting a state of hunger or famine; in the Quran it occurs in the construction فِي مَخْمَصَةٍ and in a context describing hunger as a hardship.
- Lane · entry 20081
- Mufradāt · row 437
Selected Quran examples
Quran 5:3word 54
“hunger”
Quran 9:120word 27
“hunger”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 2 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 9 Classical meanings
خَمِصَتِ القَدَمُ
The foot rose from the ground, or had a hollow middle of the sole that did not touch the ground.
A Form I verbal construction applied to the foot.
- Lane · entry 20081
تَخَامَصَ عَنْهُ
To shrink or draw away from something whose nearness is disliked; of night, to retreat or of its darkness to grow thinner before daybreak.
The ordinary construction takes عَنْ; the nocturnal use describes the retreat or thinning of darkness before dawn.
- Lane · entry 20082
تَخَامَصَ لِفُلَانٍ عَنْ حَقِّهِ
To relinquish or yield a person's right or due to him.
An idiomatic Form VI construction concerning a right or due owed to someone.
- Lane · entry 20082
خَمْصَة
A bout or period of hunger.
A noun for an episode of hungering; one attested illustration describes hunger following repletion, without making that sequence a necessary restriction.
- Lane · entry 20083
خَمِيص
Hungry, with an empty or shrunken belly; also lank-bellied or slender in build.
An adjective applied to a person or to the belly; it can also describe a time marked by hunger. Its plural forms describe people who are hungry or lank in the belly.
- Lane · entry 20087
خَمِيصُ البَطْنِ
One who abstains from devouring people's possessions.
A figurative expression, خَمِيصُ البَطْنِ مِنْ أَمْوَالِ النَّاسِ, describing abstention from consuming or appropriating others' property.
- Lane · entry 20087
خَمِيصَة
A soft, thin, small-bulk cloak or wrap, conventionally described as black, square, and bordered; also a bordered woollen or silk garment.
The cited descriptions emphasize ornamental borders, and one explicitly excludes an unbordered garment; details of material and color vary among the descriptions. The plural is خَمَائِص.
- Lane · entry 20088
أَخْمَص
The hollow or thin middle part of the human foot's sole that does not touch the ground when walking; also, a foot having such a hollow.
An anatomical noun and related adjective applied to the human foot; the plural for the anatomical noun is أَخَامِص.
- Lane · entry 20090
أَخْمَص
A man's waist.
A distinct anatomical use of the same headword.
- Lane · entry 20090
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The root-level explanation connecting خَمِيصَة, the garment, with the waist is tentative; the garment meaning itself is independently attested.