Mashrabaمشربة

زعمPer Ibn Fāris, two branches: speech uttered without certainty or verification, and … (root zm)

الزاء والعين والميم أصلان أحدهما القول من غير صحة ولا يقين والآخر التكفل بالشيء

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha · English rendering

زعم
Patterns computed · our data

The words of ز ع م that our sources attest: the root's letters in green, the added letters in gold.

25 words5 verbs5 verbal nouns4 participles1 place or instrument2 intensives and elatives5 other nouns2 plurals1 relative or abstract

  • زَعَمَallege; claim
  • زَعْمallegation; claim
  • زَعِيمresponsible, answerable, amenable, surety, or guarantee
  • تَزَاعَمَthey two competed in discoursing of a thing, and differed respecting it
  • زَعَمresponsibility, answerableness, amenableness, or suretiship
The whole family8 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs5زَعَمَ · زَاعَمَ · أَزْعَمَ

The root as an action: the bare Form I, and the Forms made by adding letters before, inside or after the root.grammar →

Form I vowels: فَعَلَ يَفْعُلُ (a – u; the imperfect from Lane's “aor.”)

  • زَعَمَallege; claimautoForm IQurʾān ×13library ×8LaneIbn Fāris
  • زَاعَمَForm IIILane
  • أَزْعَمَForm IVLane
  • تَزَعَّمَForm VLaneIbn Fāris
  • تَزَاعَمَthey two competed in discoursing of a thing, and differed respecting itLaneForm VILane
Verbal nouns5زَعْم · زَعَامَة · زَعَم

The action itself, named as a noun (maṣdar).grammar →

  • زَعْمallegation; claimautoForm I · Lane: inf. n.Qurʾān ×2library ×1LaneIbn Fāris
  • زَعَامَةForm I · Lane: inf. n.LaneIbn Fāris
  • زَعَمresponsibility, answerableness, amenableness, or suretishipLaneForm I · Lane: inf. n.LaneIbn Fāris
  • زُعْمprideLaneForm I · Lane: inf. n.LaneIbn Fāris
  • مُزَاعَمَةForm III · Lane: inf. n.Lane
Participles4مُزْعَم · مُزْعِم · مَزْعُوم

The one who does it, and the one it is done to.grammar →

  • مُزْعَمpassive, Form IVLaneIbn Fāris
  • مُزْعِمthing, or an affair, that makes one to covet, or desire eagerlyLaneactive, Form IVLaneIbn Fāris
  • مَزْعُومpassive, Form ILane
  • مُزَاعَمno confidence is to be placed in him, or itLanepassive, Form IIILane
Place, time and instrument1مَزْعَم

Where or when it happens, and what it is done with: the m- nouns.grammar →

  • مَزْعَمthing, or an affair, -in which no confidence is to be placedLanenoun of place or timeLaneIbn Fāris
Intensives, qualities and the elative2زَعِيم · زَعُوم

The quality carried far, held as a trait, or compared.grammar →

Other nouns5زَعَّامَة · زَعِم · زَعْمَة

Nouns on other patterns; their meaning is learned word by word.grammar →

  • زَعَّامَةnounLaneIbn Fāris
  • زَعِمnounLaneIbn Fāris
  • زَعْمَةnounLane
  • زُعْمُومnounLane
  • مِزْعَامَةserpentLanenounLane
Plurals2زُعَمَاء · مَزَاعِم

Broken plurals rebuild the word on a new pattern; sound plurals add an ending.grammar →

  • زُعَمَاءbroken plural of زَعِيمLane
  • مَزَاعِمbroken plural of مَزْعَمLane
Relative and abstract1زُعْمِيّ

-iyy relates a thing to its source; -iyya makes an abstract noun.grammar →

  • زُعْمِيّmendaciousLanerelative adjective (-iyy)Lane
Why this shape?What each of the 16 patterns does

What each pattern does. The pattern gives a tendency, not a rule: many words have drifted into meanings of their own.

The pattern machinePour the root into a pattern; see whether the word exists

Choose a pattern; the root's letters pour into it. Then see whether the word exists in our sources. The machine makes shapes; only usage makes words.

مَفْعَلَةز ع ممَزْعَمَة

Not in our sources. A possible shape, not a word we can show: the Quran, the library and Lane do not have it for this root.

Place noun with -a. The place noun with the feminine -a. Sometimes it is only a variant of mafʿal; often it names the place where a thing is found in abundance (maʾsada, 'a place full of lions'). So maktab is the place of writing, and maktaba, where writings are gathered: a library, a bookshop. Our summary

But: maktaba is not in our classical dictionaries for k-t-b: Lane and al-Jawharī give maktab ('a school'), none gives maktaba. Its sense of 'library, bookshop' fits the pattern of abundance, but that is our reading of the pattern, not a classical entry. Many mafʿala words are single items of usage (maqbara 'cemetery'), which the grammarians call heard, not formed by rule.

The grammarians on this pattern (4)
  • ما يكون مفعلة لازمة لها الهاء والفتحة … وذلك إذا أردت أن تكثر الشيء بالمكان، وذلك قولك: أرض مسبعة، ومأسدة

    Chapter on what is mafʿala, with the -a and the a-vowel always: that is when you mean that a thing abounds in a place, as you say 'a land of many beasts of prey (masbaʿa), of many lions (maʾsada)'

    Sībawayh (d. c. 180/796), al-Kitāb, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām Hārūn, 3rd ed. (Cairo: al-Khānjī, 1988), 4:94 · OpenITI line 21027–21028 ↗ · on this site · OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

  • و نحو المظنة و المقبرة فتحا و ضما ليس بقياس

    and words like maẓinna and maqbara (with a or u) are not by rule

    Ibn al-Ḥājib (d. 646/1249), al-Shāfiya fī ʿilm al-taṣrīf, ed. Ḥasan Aḥmad al-ʿUthmān (Mecca: al-Maktaba al-Makkiyya, 1995), 1:30 · OpenITI line 223 ↗ · on this site · OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

  • “designate the place where the object signified by the noun from which they are formed, is found in large numbers or quantities” Wright, Grammar I, §247, p. 148 ↗ · on nouns of abundance, maf'ala · 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1896) · public domain
  • “Nouns of time and place not unfrequently take the feminine form” Wright, Grammar I, §225, p. 128 ↗ · on maf'ala as a variant of maf'al · 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1896) · public domain
About thisWhat “attested” means here; the sources

Attested means found in our data: the Quranic Arabic Corpus (lemmas, verb Forms, participles, verbal nouns, plurals), the library's words (automatic analysis), Lane's Lexicon (his headwords, the Forms he numbers, the verbal nouns and plurals he names) and Ibn Fāris's entry. Nothing is generated for this list. Meanings are Lane's first gloss in his entry, or else the analyser's gloss (“auto”). Vowelling follows the corpus, then Lane, then the analyser; verbs are given in the regular perfect. Lane's Lexicon thins out after qāf, and a few of his entries cover several roots at once: those roots show no Lane. The patterns, written with ف ع ل, are computed by us.

English: AI translation
  • al-Khalīl · 170Zaʿama yazʿumu zaʿman and zuʿman (زعم يزعم زعما وزعما) — [said] when one is in doubt about his statement.

    al-Khalīl b. Aḥmad (d. c. 170/786), Kitāb al-ʿAyn. The first Arabic dictionary, arranged by permutations of the root letters.

    Zaʿama yazʿumu zaʿman and zuʿman (زعم يزعم زعما وزعما) — [said] when one is in doubt about his statement. If one says 'dhakara' (ذكر), that is closer to being correct/true. Likewise this is the explanation of the verse: "hādhā lillāhi bi-zaʿmihim" (هذا لله بزعمهم) — also read bi-zuʿmihim — meaning: by their false claim. Zaʿīm al-qawm (زعيم القوم): the chief and head of the people, who speaks on their behalf. Zaʿama yazʿumu zaʿāma (زعم يزعم زعامة): he became their zaʿīm, their chief. Laylā said: "Until, when the banner was raised, I saw him beneath the banner, over the army, as chief (zaʿīman)." Al-tazaʿʿum (التزعم): lying. He said: "O you who claims — what do you claim?" Al-zaʿīm (الزعيم): the guarantor/surety for a thing, from which comes His saying, exalted: "wa-anā bihi zaʿīm" (وأنا به زعيم), i.e., I am surety for it. Zaʿama fulān fī ghayri mazʿam (زعم فلان في غير مزعم): so-and-so coveted in a place not to be coveted. Azʿamtuhu (أزعمته): I made him covet. Zaʿāmat al-māl (زعامة المال): the greater and best portion of it from an inheritance. Labīd said: "The shares of partnership fly about, even and odd, while the headship (al-zaʿāma) goes to the young man." And ʿAntara said: "I became attached to her by chance, while I slay her people — a claim (zaʿman), by your father's life, is not to be hoped for."

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    زعم يزعم زعما وزعما إذا شك في قوله، فإذا قلت ذكر فهو أحرى إلى الصواب، وكذا تفسير هذه الآية هذا لله بزعمهم «3» ويقرأ بزعمهم، أي: بقولهم الكذب. وزعيم القوم: سيدهم ورأسهم الذي يتكلم عنهم. زعم يزعم زعامة، أي: صار لهم زعيما سيدا. قالت ليلى «4» : حتى إذا رفع اللواء رأيته ... تحت اللواء على الخميس زعيما والتزعم: التكذب. قال «1» : يا أيها الزاعم ما تزعما والزعيم: الكفيل بالشيء، ومنه قوله تعالى: وأنا به زعيم «2» أي: كفيل. وزعم فلان في غير مزعم، أي: طمع في غير مطمع. وأزعمته: أطمعته. وزعامة المال: أكثره وأفضله من الميراث. قال لبيد «3» : تطير عدائد الأشراك شفعا ... ووترا والزعامة للغلام وقال عنترة «4» : علقتها عرضا وأقتل قومها ... زعما لعمر أبيك ليس بمزعم

  • al-Jawharī · 393Zaʿama (زعم) — zaʿman, zuʿman, and ziʿman — meaning: he said.

    al-Jawharī (d. c. 393/1003), al-Ṣiḥāḥ. Admits only usage he judged sound.

    Zaʿama (زعم) — zaʿman, zuʿman, and ziʿman — meaning: he said. And zaʿamtu bihi azʿumu zaʿman wa-zaʿāma (زعمت به أزعم زعما وزعامة): I vouched/stood surety for it. Al-zaʿīm (الزعيم): the guarantor. In the ḥadīth: "al-zaʿīmu gharīm" (الزعيم غارم) — "the guarantor is liable [for the debt]." Al-zaʿāma (الزعامة): leadership/headship. Zaʿīm al-qawm (زعيم القوم): their chief. And the saying of Labīd: "wa'l-zaʿāma lil-ghulām" (والزعامة للغلام) — he means the weapon(s) [i.e., arms], because when they divided an inheritance they used to give the weapon to the son rather than to the daughter. Al-zaʿm (الزعم), with the fatḥa: covetousness/greed. One says zaʿima, with kasra, i.e., he coveted, yazʿamu zaʿaman; and azʿamtuhu (أزعمته): I caused him to covet. ʿAntara said: "zaʿman la-ʿamru abīka laysa bi-mazʿam" — i.e., it is not something to be coveted. Ibn al-Sikkīt said: a matter that cannot be relied upon is called mazʿam (مزعم), i.e., this one claims it is such-and-such and that one claims it is such-and-such. And [one says] 'in the speech of so-and-so are mazāʿim (مزاعم)' [i.e., unreliable claims]. Al-tazaʿʿum (التزعم): lying. A she-camel called zaʿūm (زعوم) or a ewe called zaʿūm: when there is doubt whether it has marrow/fat or not, so it is felt with the hands [to check]. And he said: "I drove among them a swift old she-camel, of worn tracks, pure in the loins, or one whose fat is uncertain (zaʿūman)." Al-zaʿmūm (الزعموم): the inarticulate/stammering one.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    زعم (3) زعما وزعما وزعما، أي قال. وزعمت به أزعم زعما وزعامة، أي كفلت. والزعيم: الكفيل: وفي الحديث: " الزعيم غارم ". والزعامة: السيادة. وزعيم القوم: سيدهم. وقول لبيد: والزعامة للغلام (1) * يريد السلاح، لانهم كانوا إذا اقتسموا الميراث دفعوا السلاح إلى الابن دون الابنة. والزعم، بالتحريك: الطمع. وقد زعم بالكسر، أي طمع، يزعم زعما وأزعمته أنا. قال عنترة: زعما لعمر أبيك ليس بمزعم (2) * أي ليس بمطمع. وقال ابن السكيت: ويقال للأمر الذي لا يوثق به مزعم، أي يزعم هذا أنه كذا ويزعم هذا أنه كذا. وفي قول فلان مزاعم. والنزعم: التكذب. وناقة زعوم وشاة زعوم، إذا كان يشك فيها أبها طرق أم لا، فتغبط بالأيدي. وقال: زجرت فيها عيهلا رسوما (1) مخلصة الانقاء أو زعوما والزعموم: العيى.

  • Ibn Fāris · 395Zāʾ, ʿayn, and mīm are two roots: one is speech without soundness or certainty, and the other is undertaking responsibility for a thing.

    Ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004), Maqāyīs al-Lugha. Seeks each root's original sense (aṣl).

    Zāʾ, ʿayn, and mīm are two roots: one is speech without soundness or certainty, and the other is undertaking responsibility for a thing. The first is al-zaʿm and al-zuʿm (الزعم), and this is speech without soundness/veracity. God, exalted be His mention, said: "The disbelievers claim (zaʿama) that they will never be resurrected" (Qur'an 64:7, al-Taghābun). And the poet said: "Ghudāna claimed (zaʿamat) that among them was a chief, huge, whom a locust's wing conceals." From this same chapter is the expression zaʿama fī ghayri mazʿam (زعم في غير مزعم), i.e., he coveted/hoped for something in a place where hope was not warranted. He [a poet] said: "A claim (zaʿman), by your father's life, is not something to be hoped for." From this chapter also is al-zaʿūm (الزعوم), the slaughter-camel whose fatness is doubted, so it is felt with the hands [to check]. And al-tazaʿʿum (التزعم) is lying. The other root: zaʿama bi-shayʾ (زعم بالشيء) means he vouched/stood surety for it. He [a poet] said: "My wife reproaches me over provision, while the provisions of servants rest upon God, as He has guaranteed (zaʿam)." i.e., as He has guaranteed. From this chapter also is al-zaʿāma (الزعامة), meaning leadership/headship, because the chief undertakes responsibility (yazʿamu) for affairs, i.e., takes charge of them. And more precise than this is the saying of God, exalted be His mention: {They said, 'We are missing the king's measuring-cup, and for whoever brings it is a camel's load, and I am surety (zaʿīm) for it'} [Qur'an 12:72, Yūsuf]. It is said that al-zaʿāma is the chief's share of the spoils; and it is also said that it is rather the best portion of the property. Labīd said: "The shares of partnership fly about, odd and even, while the headship (al-zaʿāma) goes to the young man [heir]."

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الزاء والعين والميم أصلان أحدهما القول من غير صحة ولا يقين والآخر التكفل بالشيء فالأول الزعم والزعم وهذا القول على غير صحة قال الله جل ثناؤه ( زعم الذين كفروا أن لن يبعثوا التغابن7 ) وقال الشاعر : — زعمت غدانة أن فيها سيدا … ضخما يواريه جناح الجندب … ومن الباب زعم في غير مزعم أي طمع في غير مطمع قال : — زعما لعمر أبيك ليس بمزعم … ومن الباب الزعوم وهي الجزور التي يشك في سمنها فتغبط بالأيدي والتزعم الكذب والأصل الآخر زعم بالشيء إذا كفل به قال — تعاتبني في الرزق عرسي وإنما … على الله أرزاق العباد كما زعم … أي كما كفل ومن الباب الزعامة وهي السيادة لأن السيد يزعم بالأمور أي يتكفل بها وأصدق من ذلك قول الله جل ثناؤه ﴿ قالوا نفقد صواع الملك ولمن جاء به حمل بعير وأنا به زعيم ﴾ ويقال الزعامة حظ السيد من المغنم ويقال بل هي أفضل المال قال لبيد : — تطير عدائد الإشراك وترا … وشفعا والزعامة للغلام —

  • al-Rāghib · 502Al-zaʿm (الزعم): the report of a statement suspected of being false;

    al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. c. 502/1108), al-Mufradāt. Quranic vocabulary, from core sense to Quranic usage.

    Al-zaʿm (الزعم): the report of a statement suspected of being false; for this reason it occurs in the Qur'an in every place where those who say it are condemned, such as: "zaʿama alladhīna kafarū" (زعم الذين كفروا) [64:7, al-Taghābun]; "la-zaʿamtum" (لزعمتم) [18:48, al-Kahf]; "kuntum tazʿumūn" (كنتم تزعمون) [6:22, al-Anʿām]; "zaʿamtum min dūnihi" (زعمتم من دونه) [17:56, al-Isrāʾ]. And suretyship by word, and leadership, were called al-zaʿāma (الزعامة); hence the one who takes on responsibility and the leader are called al-zaʿīm (الزعيم), owing to the belief that their statements are suspected of falsehood. He said: "wa-anā bihi zaʿīm" (وأنا به زعيم) [12:72, Yūsuf]; "ayyuhum bi-dhālika zaʿīm" (أيهم بذلك زعيم) [68:40, al-Qalam] — either from al-zaʿāma, i.e., suretyship, or from al-zaʿm by way of speech.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الزعم: حكاية قول يكون مظنة للكذب، ولهذا جاء في القرآن في كل موضع ذم القائلون به، نحو: زعم الذين كفروا [التغابن/ 7] ، ل زعمتم [الكهف/ 48] ، كنتم تزعمون [الأنعام/ 22] ، زعمتم من دونه [الإسراء/ 56] ، وقيل للضمان بالقول والرئاسة: زعامة، فقيل للمتكفل والرئيس: زعيم، للاعتقاد في قوليهما أنهما مظنة للكذب. قال: وأنا به زعيم [يوسف/ 72] ، أيهم بذلك زعيم [القلم/ 40] ، إما من الزعامة أي: الكفالة، أو من الزعم بالقول.

  • Lisān · 711God, exalted, said: "The disbelievers claim (zaʿama) that they will never be resurrected" [64:7].

    Ibn Manẓūr (d. 711/1311), Lisān al-ʿArab. The great compendium of the earlier dictionaries (entry shortened).

    God, exalted, said: "The disbelievers claim (zaʿama) that they will never be resurrected" [64:7]. And He said, exalted: "And they said: This is for God, according to their claim (bi-zaʿmihim)" [cf. 6:136]. Al-zaʿm, al-zuʿm, and al-ziʿm are three dialectal forms [meaning]: speech; zaʿama, zaʿman, zuʿman, and ziʿman, i.e., he said. It is also said: it is speech that may be true or may be false. Ibn al-Aʿrābī cited from Umayya, regarding the zaʿm that is true: "And indeed I vouch to you that your Lord will fulfill for you what He has promised (zaʿam)." Al-Layth said: I heard the grammarians say: when it is said 'dhakara fulānun kadhā wa-kadhā' (so-and-so mentioned such-and-such), this is said only of a matter certainly known to be true; but when there is doubt about it and it is not known whether it may be false, one says 'zaʿama fulān' (so-and-so claimed). He said: likewise this verse is explained: "fa-qālū hādhā lillāhi bi-zaʿmihim" — meaning: by their false statement. It is also said: al-zaʿm means conjecture (al-ẓann); and it is also said it means lying. Zaʿamahu yazʿamuhu [he claimed it]. Al-zuʿm [with ḍamma] is a Tamīmī dialectal form, and al-zaʿm [with fatḥa] is a Ḥijāzī form. As for the saying of al-Nābigha: "The valiant one claimed (zaʿama) that her mouth was cool/sweet" — and his saying: "The raven claimed (zaʿama) that our departure is tomorrow" — the bāʾ [particle] here may be redundant, as in his saying: "black-eyed women who do not recite with the surahs" [i.e., have not memorized the Qur'an]. Or zaʿama here may carry the sense of shahida (شهد, to testify), and thus is made transitive the way shahida is made transitive, as in His saying, exalted: "wa-mā shahidnā illā bi-mā ʿalimnā" (And we did not testify except to what we knew) [12:81, Yūsuf]. And they say: 'hādhā wa-lā zaʿamtaka wa-lā zaʿamātika' [this — and not your claim, and not your claims] — meaning he intends to reject his statement. Al-Azharī said: an Arab man, when reporting from someone whose statement is not verified [as true], says 'wa-lā zaʿamātihi'; from this is his saying: "A Byzantine indeed drew/wrote — and never mind his claims." 'Zaʿamtanī kadhā tazʿumunī zaʿman' (زعمتني كذا تزعمني زعما): you supposed/thought me [to be such]. Abū Dhuʾayb said: "If you suppose me (tazʿumīnī) to have been ignorant among you, then indeed I have bought forbearance after you with folly." And you say: 'zaʿamtu annī lā uḥibbuhā' [I claimed that I do not love her] and 'zaʿamtanī lā uḥibbuhā' [you supposed me not to love her] — this [latter construction] occurs in poetry. But in [ordinary] speech, the better usage is that al-zaʿm govern 'an' [the particle 'that'] rather than [directly govern] the noun. Al-tazaʿʿum (التزعم): lying. And he cited: "O you who claims — what do you claim?" 'Tazāʿama al-qawmu ʿalā kadhā tazāʿuman' — the people cooperated/supported one another regarding it. He said: its origin is that some of them became zaʿīm (surety) for others. And [the expression] 'in his statement are mazāʿim' means: it cannot be relied upon. Al-Azharī said: al-zaʿm belongs only to speech. One says: 'amrun fīhi mazāʿim' (a matter having mazāʿim) — i.e., a matter that is not straightforward, in which contention remains. Ibn al-Sikkīt said: a matter that cannot be relied upon is called mazʿam — i.e., this one claims it is such, and that one claims it is such [i.e., disputed]. Ibn Barrī said: al-zaʿm occurs in the speech of the Arabs in four senses. [First,] it can mean suretyship and guarantee (al-kafāla wa'l-ḍamān); its evidence is the saying of ʿUmar ibn Abī Rabīʿa: "I said: My hand is pledged to your satisfaction — so guarantee it, O Hind! She said: it is [already] obligatory." 'Wa'zʿamī' means: guarantee/stand surety for me. And al-Nābigha said, describing Noah: "It was called out: Arise, and embark with your family, for God will fulfill for mankind what He has promised (zaʿam)." Here zaʿam is explained in the sense of 'guaranteed' (ḍamin), and in the sense of 'said', and... [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    قال الله تعالى: زعم الذين كفروا أن لن يبعثوا ، وقال تعالى: فقالوا هذا لله بزعمهم ؛ الزعم والزعم والزعم، ثلاث لغات: القول، زعم زعما وزعما وزعما أي قال، وقيل: هو القول يكون حقا ويكون باطلا، وأنشد ابن الأعرابي لأمية في الزعم الذي هو حق: وإني أذين لكم أنه ... سينجزكم ربكم ما زعم وقال الليث: سمعت أهل العربية يقولون إذا قيل ذكر فلان كذا وكذا فإنما يقال ذلك لأمر يستيقن أنه حق، وإذا شك فيه فلم يدر لعله كذب أو باطل قيل زعم فلان، قال: وكذلك تفسر هذه الآية: فقالوا هذا لله بزعمهم ؛ أي بقولهم الكذب، وقيل: الزعم الظن، وقيل: الكذب، زعمه يزعمه، والزعم تميمية، والزعم حجازية؛ وأما قول النابغة: زعم الهمام بأن فاها بارد وقوله: زعم الغداف بأن رحلتنا غدا فقد تكون الباء زائدة كقوله: سود المحاجر لا يقرأن بالسور وقد تكون زعم هاهنا في معنى شهد فعداها بما تعدى به شهد كقوله تعالى: وما شهدنا إلا بما علمنا. وقالوا: هذا ولا زعمتك ولا زعماتك، يذهب إلى رد قوله، قال الأزهري: الرجل من العرب إذا حدث عمن لا يحقق قوله يقول ولا زعماته؛ ومنه قوله: لقد خط رومي ولا زعماته وزعمتني كذا تزعمني زعما: ظننتني؛ قال أبو ذؤيب: فإن تزعميني كنت أجهل فيكم، ... فإني شريت الحلم بعدك بالجهل وتقول: زعمت أني لا أحبها وزعمتني لا أحبها، يجيء في الشعر، فأما في الكلام فأحسن ذلك أن يوقع الزعم على أن دون الاسم. والتزعم: التكذب؛ وأنشد: أيها الزاعم ما تزعما وتزاعم القوم على كذا تزاعما إذا تضافروا عليه، قال: وأصله أنه صار بعضهم لبعض زعيما؛ وفي قوله مزاعم أي لا يوثق به، قال الأزهري: الزعم إنما هو في الكلام، يقال: أمر فيه مزاعم أي أمر غير مستقيم فيه منازعة بعد. قال ابن السكيت: ويقال للأمر الذي لا يوثق به مزعم أي يزعم هذا أن كذا ويزعم هذا أنه كذا. قال ابن بري: الزعم يأتي في كلام العرب على أربعة أوجه، يكون بمعنى الكفالة والضمان؛ شاهده قول عمر بن أبي ربيعة: قلت: كفي لك رهن بالرضى ... وازعمي يا هند، قالت: قد وجب وازعمي أي اضمني؛ وقال النابغة «1» يصف نوحا: نودي: قم واركبن بأهلك إن ... الله موف للناس ما زعما زعم هنا فسر بمعنى ضمن، وبمعنى قال، وبمعنى وعد، ويكون بمعنى الوعد، قال عمرو بن شأس: وعاذلة تحشى الردى أن يصيبني، ... تروح وتغدو بالملامة والقسم تقول: هلكنا، إن هلكت وإنما ... على الله أرزاق العباد كما زعم وزعم هنا بمعنى قال ووعد، وتكون بمعنى القول والذكر؛ قال أبو زبيد الطائي: يا لهف نفسي إن كان الذي زعموا ... حقا وماذا يرد اليوم تلهيفي إن كان مغنى وفود الناس راح به ... قوم إلى جدث، في الغار، منجوف؟ المعنى: إن كان الذي قالوه حقا لأنه سمع من يقول حمل عثمان على النعش إلى قبره؛ قال المثقب العبدي: وكلام سيء قد وقرت ... أذني عنه، وما بي من صمم فتصاممت، لكيما لا يرى ... جاهل أني كما كان زعم وقال الجميح: أنتم بنو المرأة التي زعم الناس ... عليها، في الغي، ما زعموا ويكون بمعنى الظن؛ قال عبيد الله بن عبد الله بن عتبة بن مسعود: فذق هجرها قد كنت تزعم أنه ... رشاد، ألا يا ربما كذب الزعم فهذا البيت لا يحتمل سوى الظن، وبيت عمر بن أبي ربيعة لا يحتمل سوى الضمان، وبيت أبي زبيد لا يحتمل سوى القول، وما سوى ذلك على ما فسر. وحكى ابن بري أيضا عن ابن خالويه: الزعم يستعمل فيما يذم كقوله تعالى: زعم الذين كفروا أن لن يبعثوا ؛ حتى قال بعض المفسرين: الزعم أصله الكذب، قال: ولم يجئ فيما يحمد إلا في بيتين، وذكر بيت النابغة الجعدي وذكر أنه روي لأمية بن أبي الصلت، وذكر أيضا بيت عمرو بن شأس ورواه لمضرس؛ قال أبو الهيثم: تقول العرب قال إنه وتقول زعم أنه، فكسروا الألف مع قال، وفتحوها مع زعم لأن زعم فعل واقع بها أي بالألف متعد إليها، ألا ترى أنك تقول زعمت عبد الله قائما، ولا تقول قلت زيدا خارجا إلا أن تدخل حرفا من حروف الاستفهام فتقول هل تقوله فعل كذا ومتى تقولني خارجا؛ وأنشد: قال الخليط: غدا تصدعنا، ... فمتى تقول الدار تجمعنا؟ ومعناه فمتى تظن ومتى تزعم. والزعوم من الإبل والغنم: التي يشك في سمنها فتغبط بالأيدي، وقيل: الزعوم التي يزعم الناس أن بها نقيا؛ قال الراجز: وبلدة تجهم الجهوما، ... زجرت فيها عيهلا رسوما، مخلصة الأنقاء أو زعوما قال ابن بري: ومثله قول الآخر: وإنا من مودة آل سعد، ... كمن طلب الإهالة في الزعوم وقال الراجز: إن قصاراك على رعوم ... مخلصة العظام، أو زعوم المخلصة: التي قد خلص نقيها. وقال الأصمعي: الزعوم من الغنم التي لا يدرى أبها شحم أم لا، ومنه قيل: فلان مزاعم أي لا يوثق به. والزعوم: القليلة الشحم وهي الكثيرة الشحم، وهي المزعمة، فمن جعلها القليلة الشحم فهي المزعومة، وهي التي إذا أكلها الناس قالوا لصاحبها توبيخا: أزعمت أنها سمينة؛ قال ابن خالويه: لم يجئ أزعم في كلامهم إلا في قولهم أزعمت القلوص أو الناقة إذا ظن أن في سنامها …

  • Lane · 1876English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

    E. W. Lane (d. 1876), An Arabic-English Lexicon. English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

    زَعَمَ

    1. زَعَمَ, (S, Msb,) aor. زَعُمَ , (Msb, MS, JM, [not mentioned in the S nor in the K, app. because well known,]) inf. n. زَعْمٌ and زُعْمٌ and زعْمٌ, (S, Msb, K,) the first of the dial. of El-Hijáz, (Msb, TA,) the second of the dial. of [the tribe of] Asad, (Msb,) or Benoo-Temeem, (TA,) and the third of the dial. of some of [the tribe of] Keys; (Msb;) [generally best rendered He asserted; for it mostly relates to a thing not certainly known: or] he said; (S, Msb, K;) as in the phrases زَعَمَتِ الحَنَفِيَّةٌ [The Hanafees said or asserted, or have said or asserted,] and زَعَمَ سِيبَوَيْهِ [Seebaweyh said or asserted, or has said or asserted]; (Msb;) [and زَعَمَ أَنَّهُ كَذَا He said, or asserted, that it was thus;] either truly or falsely: (K:) mostly used in relation to a thing respecting which there is doubt, (Sh, Az, Msb, K,) and which is not certainly known: (Sh, Az, Msb:) or it is mostly used in relation to that which is false, or that respecting which there is doubt, or suspicion: (El-Marzookee, Msb:) or, as those skilled in the language of the Arabs say, in relation to a thing of which the speaker doubts, and does not know whether it may not be false: (Lth:) or زَعَمَ زَعْمًا means he related a piece of information not knowing whether it were true or false. (IKoot, Msb.) Hence the saying, زَعَمَ مَطِيَّةُ الكَذِبِ [i. e. (assumed tropical:) زَعَمَ is the conveyer, or vehicle, (properly the camel, or beast, that serves as the conveyer,) of lying]. (Msb.) It is said in a trad., بِئْسَ مَطِيَّةُ الرَّجُلِ زَعَمُوا [(assumed tropical:) Very evil, or bad, is the man's conveyer زَعَمُوا]: i. e., when a man desires to journey to a country, or town, he mounts his camel, or beast, that serves to convey him, and journeys until he accomplishes the object of his want: therefore, that with which the speaker prefaces his speech, and by means of which he attains the object of his desire, when he says زَعَمُوا كَذَا وَكَذَا, is likened to the camel, or beast, by means of which he attains the object of want: for زَعَمُوا is [generally] said only in the case of a narration that has no authority whereon to rest, and that contains no proof. (TA.) IKh says that الزَّعْمُ is used in relation to that which is discommended; and that its primary signification is said by some of the expositors of the Kur-án to be The act of lying: (TA: [this signification is also given in the K, as being contr. to the first:]) some say that it is metonymically used in this sense: (Msb:) and it is expl. as having this meaning in the Kur [vi. 137], where it is said, فَقَالُوا هٰذَا لِلّٰهِ بِزَعْمِهِمْ, i. e. [And they have said, “ This belongeth unto God, ”] with their lying. (Lth, TA.) [Sometimes] زَعَمَهُ signifies He described him, or it. (Har p. 204.) And sometimes زَعَمَ signifies He promised: whence the saying of ' Amr Ibn-Sha-s, [Thou sayest, or she says, “ We perish if thou perish: ” but verily upon God lie the means of subsistence of mankind, i. e. it lies upon Him to supply these, as He has promised]. (TA.) الزَّعْمُ is used also in the sense of الظَّنُّ: (Msb, TA:) one says, فِى زَعْمِى كَذَا [In my opinion it is thus]. (Msb.) [Hence, likewise,] زَعَمْتَنِى كَذَا, (K,) aor. تَزْعُمُنِى, (TA,) Thou thoughtest me to be thus. (K, TA.) Aboo-Dhu-eyb says, [And if thou think me such that I used to be ignorant, or to act ignorantly, among you, know that I have purchased intelligence since I was with thee (بَعْدَكِ being for بَعْدَ عَهْدِى بِكِ) in exchange for ignorance]. (TA. [The meaning of تزعمينى is there indicated by the context.]) It is also used in the sense of الاِعْتِقَادُ: whence the saying in the Kur [lxiv. 7], زَعَمَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُو أَنْ لَنْ يُبْعَثُوا [They who have disbelieved our revelations have believed, or firmly believed, that they shall not be raised from the dead]. (Msb.) Sometimes, also, زَعَمَ is used in the sense of شَهِدَ: as in the saying of En-Nábighah, [app. meaning The magnanimous chief bore witness that her mouth was cool]. (TA.) زَعَمَ بِهِ, (S, Msb, K,) aor. زَعُمَ (S, Msb) and زَعَمَ , (Msb,) inf. n. زَعْمٌ (S, Msb, K) and زَعَامَةٌ, (S, K,) or the latter is a simple subst., (Msb,) He was, or became, responsible, answerable, amenable, surety, or guarantee, for it; (S, Msb, K;) namely, property. (Msb.) And زَعَمَ, like قَتَلَ, (Msb,) or زَعُمَ, like كَرُمَ, (TA,) aor. زَعُمَ , inf. n. زَعَامَةٌ, He was, or became, chief, lord, master, or prince, (Msb, TA,) of a people, (TA,) or عَلَى قَوْمٍ [over a people]; (Msb;) or spokesman of a people. (TA.) See also 4, in two places. زَعِمَ, aor. زَعَمَ , (S, K,) inf. n. زَعَمٌ (S, TA) and زَعْمٌ, (TA,) He coveted, or eagerly desired. (S, K.) [Like its syn. طَمِعَ, it is trans. by means of فِى.] One says, زَعِمَ فُلَانٌ فِى غَيْرِ مَزْعَمٍ, i. e. طَمِعَ فى غَيْرِ مَطْعَمٍ [Such a one coveted a thing not to be coveted; meaning, a thing of which the attainment was remote, or improbable: see art. طمع]. (TA.) And ' Antarah says, (S,) i. e. I became enamoured of her unintentionally, [or accidentally,] while I was slaying her people; eagerly desiring her love: by the life of thy father, I swear, this is not a [fit] occasion for eager desire: i. e. I can not attain to holding communion of love with thee, [or with her,] any day, while there is this conflict and hostility between the two tribes: (EM p. 222:) لَيْسَ بِمَزْعَمٍ meaning لَيْسَ بِمَطْمَعٍ: (S:) or, [as some relate it,] [eagerly desiring: by the Lord of the House (i. e. the Kaabeh), &c.]. (TA. [زَعْمًا is there expressly said to be thus: but the measure does not require its being so.])

    زاعم

    3. زاعم, (K,) inf. n. مُزَاعَمَةٌ, (TA,) i. q. زَاحَمَ [q. v.]: (K:) the ع is a substitute for the ح. (TA.)

    ازعم

    4. ازعم He made a person to be such as is termed زَعِيم; (Msb, TA;) as meaning responsible, answerable, amenable, surety, or guarantee. (Msb.) You say, أَزْعَمْتُكَ المَالَ, (Msb,) or الشَّىْءَ, (TA,) I made thee, or have made thee, responsible, &c., (Msb, TA, *) [for the property, or the thing;] i. e. زَعِيمًا بِهِ. (Msb, TA.) He made one to covet, or eagerly desire. (S, K.) You say, أَزْعَمْتُهُ. (S.) [And أَزْعَمْتُهُ فِى الشَّىْءِ I made him to covet, or eagerly desire, the thing; like as you say, أَطْمَعْتُهُ فِيهِ. See زَعِمَ.] He obeyed (K, TA) the زَعِيم [i. e. chief, lord, or prince]. (TA.) It (an affair) was, or became, possible. (K.) It (milk) began to become good, or pleasant; [or fit to be drunk;] as also زَعَمَ, (K,) inf. n. زَعْمٌ. (TA.) ازعمت said of a young she-camel, or of one full-grown, She was thought to have fat in her hump. (IKh, TA. [The TA states it to have been asserted by IKh that the verb is only used in this sense, or (for the passage is ambiguous) in this sense and the first mentioned above.]) Also, (K,) or زَعَمَتْ, (TA, [but this I think to be probably a mistranscription,]) said of the earth, or land, (الأَرْضُ,) It put forth the first of its plants, or herbage. (IAar, K, TA.)

    تزعّم

    5. تزعّم i. q. تَكَذَّبَ [q. v.]: (S, K:) [it seems here to mean He spoke falsely; and to be trans.; for] a poet says, [app. meaning O thou asserter of that which thou hast spoken falsely]. (TA. [This hemistich is there cited as an ex. of تزعّم as expl. in the K; and I find no other explanation of this verb.])

    تَزَاعَمَا

    6. تَزَاعَمَا They two competed in discoursing of a thing, and differed respecting it: accord. to Z, it means they talked of, or related, زَعَمَات, i. e. [mere assertions, or] stories in which no confidence was to be placed. (TA.) Sh says that التَّزَاعُمُ is mostly used in relation to a thing respecting which there is doubt. (TA.) One says also, تزاعم القَوْمُ, meaning The people, or party, became responsible, one for another: and hence, تزاعموا عَلَى كَذَا they leagued together, and aided one another, against such a thing. (TA.)

    زُعْمٌ

    زُعْمٌ [originally an inf. n. of زَعَمَ, like زَعْمٌ and زِعْمٌ,] is a word used by the vulgar as meaning كِبْرٌ [i. e. Pride; and, as often used in the present day, pretension: because implying false, or vain, assertion]. (TA.)

    زَعَمٌ

    زَعَمٌ and زَعَامَةٌ Responsibility, answerableness, amenableness, or suretiship; substs. from زَعَمَ بِهِ: (Msb:) or the latter is an inf. n. (S, K.)

    زَعِمٌ

    زَعِمٌ, applied to roasted meat, (K, TA,) Dripping with its gravy; or succulent, and dripping with its juice or fat; (TA;) having much grease, or gravy; quickly flowing [therewith] over the fire. (K.)

    زَعْمَةٌ

    زَعْمَةٌ [inf. n. of un. of زَعَمَ; An assertion; &c.: pl. زَعَمَاتٌ]. One says, هٰذَا وَلَا زَعْمَتَكَ and ولا زَعَمَاتِكَ [meaning This I think, and I think not to be true thine assertion and thine assertions]; أَتَوَهَّمُ being understood after لا: these words are used as meaning the rejection of what has been said by the person to whom they are addressed. (K, TA. [In the CK, erroneously, زَعْمَتِكَ and زَعْمَاتِكَ.]) They said also, زَعْمَةٌ صَادِقَةٌ لَآتِيَنَّكَ [i. e. It is a true assertion: I will assuredly come to thee]; using the nom. case: though they said, يَمِينًا صَادِقَةً لَأَفْعَلَنَّ [i. e. I swear “ a true oath: I will assuredly do ” such a thing]; using the accus. case. (Ks, TA.) And one says, تَحَادَثَا بِالزَّعَمَاتِ, meaning They two talked of, or related, each to the other, [mere assertions, or] stories in which no confidence was to be placed. (Z, TA.)

    زُعْمِىٌّ

    زُعْمِىٌّ (with damm, TA) Mendacious: and veracious: (K:) thus bearing two contr. significations. (TA.)

    زُعْمُومٌ

    زُعْمُومٌ: see the next paragraph.

    زَعُومٌ

    زَعُومٌ, a fem. epithet, (S, K, &c.,) applied to a she-camel, and to a sheep or goat, Of which one doubts whether there be in her fat or not, (S, K,) and which is therefore felt with the hands, in order that one may know if she be fat or lean: (S:) or a sheep or goat of which one knows not whether there be in her fat or not: (As, TA:) or, as some say, of which men assert that there is in her marrow. (TA.) And, as a fem. epithet, Having little fat: and having much fat: thus bearing two contr. senses: as also مُزْعَمَةٌ [app. in both senses]: (M, K:) and مَزْعُومَةٌ also signifies having little fat; of which people, when they eat of her, say to her owner, “ Didst thou assert her to be fat? ” applied to a she-camel. (TA.) Also Impotent in speech; (K;) and so زُعْمُومٌ. (S, * K.)

    Lane, Arabic-English Lexiconread Lane's entry online ↗
Technical definitions1 · Ibn ʿArabī’s Iṣṭilāḥ, al-Jurjānī’s Taʿrīfāt

The same three letters in all six orders. Choose one.

ز ع م

الزاء والعين والميم أصلان أحدهما القول من غير صحة ولا يقين والآخر التكفل بالشيء

z-ʿ-m has two roots: one is speech without correctness or certainty, and the other is taking responsibility for something.

Ibn Fāris ↗Lisān ↗Lane ↗al-Khalīl: used ↗Quran ×17

an entry in Ibn Fārislater sources onlyin none of them

Do these six share one core meaning?

About thisal-Khalīl, Ibn Jinnī, Ibn Fāris; the counts across the dictionary

al-Khalīl (d. c. 170/786), Kitāb al-ʿAyn, as transmitted by al-Layth: a two-letter word “turns in two ways”, a three-letter word “in six ways” (masdūsa), four letters in 24, five in 120; “its used forms are written down and its unused ones dropped” (line 975 ↗). The dictionary is built on this: each chapter takes a set of letters and names which orders are used (mustaʿmal) and which unused (muhmal). The ring shows that verdict, from the chapter heading as edited (documented in the text; how much of the book is al-Khalīl's own is disputed).

A reported total. al-Suyūṭī transmits, from Ḥamza al-Iṣfahānī, that al-Khalīl put the possible forms, used and unused, of two to five letters at 12,305,412 (al-Muzhir, line 1347 ↗). It is reported, not found in the ʿAyn. It equals exactly the arrangements of 2 to 5 different letters out of 28 (756 + 19,656 + 491,400 + 11,793,600); the breakdown printed beside it is corrupt, and al-Zubaydī's count, given next, differs (6,659,400).

Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), al-Khaṣāʾiṣ, names the greater derivation (al-ishtiqāq al-akbar): bind a three-letter root and its six orders to one meaning, and bring stray members back “by the subtlety of the craft and interpretation” (line 7536 ↗). He says himself that it does not hold for every root (line 167 ↗; line 7603 ↗).

Ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004) gives each root its own aṣl and treats a rearranged word as maqlūb, “turned round”, and so not a root of its own: “j-b-dh is not a root, because it is a single word, turned round” (Maqāyīs, line 6147 ↗). The ring sets his aṣl for each order side by side; whether they meet is the question.

Neighbours on the ring differ by one swap of two letters.

The critique. A source quoted by al-Suyūṭī calls the greater derivation Ibn Jinnī's innovation, “not relied on in the language” (al-Muzhir, line 6159 ↗).

The other axis. The root's letters also go into patterns that keep their order and change the frame: the patterns (awzān) and the verb Forms I–X.

Across Ibn Fāris's dictionary. Of the 2,300 possible sets of three different sound letters (no hamza, w or y), 1,021 have at least one order as an entry. How many of their six orders are entries:

Ibn Fāris, entries found (1,021 letter-sets)
  1. 1 of 6319
  2. 2 of 6218
  3. 3 of 6164
  4. 4 of 6155
  5. 5 of 6107
  6. 6 of 658
al-Khalīl, orders his headings call used (746 letter-sets)
  1. 1 of 6148
  2. 2 of 6108
  3. 3 of 6157
  4. 4 of 6179
  5. 5 of 6111
  6. 6 of 643

Of the orders al-Khalīl calls used, 2,097 are entries in Ibn Fāris and 267 are not; 17 that he calls unused are entries in Ibn Fāris.

Our computation from the OpenITI texts; heading detection can miss entries

Attested here means found in our digital texts (Ibn Fāris, Lisān al-ʿArab, Lane, the Quranic Arabic Corpus), with w and y kept apart and hamza spellings merged; it is our data, not a classical verdict. English beside the Arabic is AI translation. Sources and grades: docs/research/root-permutations.md.

How each letter is made, in brief, from Sībawayh's and Ibn Jinnī's own sentences (linked); their words are under Reference.

How it is madeSībawayh and Ibn Jinnī · phonetics

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

ز

ومما بين طرف اللسان وفويق الثنايا مخرج الزاي، والسين، والصاد

From between the tip of the tongue and just above the front teeth is the place of the zāy, the sīn and the ṣād. Sībawayh, line 26560 ↗

ومما بين الثنايا وطرف اللسان، مخرج الصاد والزاي والسين

From between the front teeth and the tip of the tongue is the place of the ṣād, the zāy and the sīn. Ibn Jinnī, line 983 ↗

ع

ومن أوسط الحلق مخرج العين والحاء

From the middle of the throat is the place of the ʿayn and the ḥāʾ. Sībawayh, lines 26548–26549 ↗

ومن وسط الحلق مخرج العين والحاء

From the middle of the throat is the place of the ʿayn and the ḥāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 970 ↗

م

ومما بين الشفتين مخرج الباء، والميم، والواو

From between the two lips is the place of the bāʾ, the mīm and the wāw. Sībawayh, line 26563 ↗

ومما بين الشفتين مخرج الباء والميم والواو

From between the two lips is the place of the bāʾ, the mīm and the wāw. Ibn Jinnī, line 986 ↗

Sībawayh, al-Kitāb (ed. Hārūn) and Ibn Jinnī, Sirr ṣināʿat al-iʿrāb; OpenITI digital texts (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Full credits on each letter's page.

In the Breath of the All-MercifulIbn ʿArabī · metaphysics

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

ز

Level of existence: ما يظهر في ركن الهواء · what appears in the pillar (element) of air

Divine Name: الحي · the Living (al-Ḥayy)

Lunar mansion: الشولة · al-Shawla

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 64951

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 7 line 2570 ↗

منها دون الألف فطبعها الحرارة واليبوسة

[Zāy and lām] of it, excluding alif: their nature is heat and dryness.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2577

ع

Level of existence: الطبيعة · Nature

Divine Name: الباطن · The Inward (al-Bāṭin)

Lunar mansion: الثريا · al-Thurayyā (the Pleiades)

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 63825

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 9 line 2572 ↗

م

Level of existence: الإنسان · the human being

Divine Name: الجامع · al-Jāmiʿ, the Gatherer

Lunar mansion: المؤخر · al-Muʾakhkhar

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62119

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗

المرتبة العشرية فحروفها حارة يابسة

The tenfold rank: its letters are hot and dry.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2582
Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

ز

فهي اسم للشيء الذي إذا دخل على الشيء ضره، وقال مرة: اسم للشيء وما يتحرز منه.

It is a name for the thing that harms another thing when it enters upon it. On one occasion he said: a name for the thing and what one guards against.

فهي إشارة إلى القبيح الذي فيه ضرر كالكبائر.

It is an indication of the ugly thing that contains harm, such as the major sins.

فهي إشارة إلى القبيح الذي لا ضرر فيه كالصغائر والشبهات والنجاسة.

It is an indication of the ugly thing that contains no harm, such as minor sins, doubtful matters and ritual impurity.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī

ع

فهي اسم لقدوم أو رحيل.

It is a name for arrival or departure.

فهي اسم للساكن في الذات التي تقوم به.

It is a name for that which dwells in the self and by which the self subsists.

فهي اسم لخبث الذات.

It is a name for the foulness of the self.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī

م

فهي جميع المكونات.

It is all created beings.

فهي العزيز القليل كماء العين، ومنه قيل مومو.

It is the precious, scarce thing, like the water of the eye; from it comes the expression 'mūmū'.

فهي نور الذات ظاهرا كما في العين، وباطنا كما في القلب.

It is the light of the self, outwardly as in the eye and inwardly as in the heart.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī
Two-letter nucleus4 roots in Ibn Fāris’s chapterز ع

Ibn Fāris groups his roots under two-letter chapters (“the X and the Y and what makes them three”). These are the roots of this root's chapter with the core sense he gives each. Setting them side by side is our juxtaposition; he does not himself draw a shared meaning. His chapter heading, line 12932 ↗

  • زعفالزاء والعين والفاء أصيلL12933
  • زعقالزاء والعين والقاف أصل يدل على شدة في صياح أو مرارة أو ملوحةL12935
  • زعمالزاء والعين والميم أصلان أحدهما القول من غير صحة ولا يقين والآخر التكفل بالشيءQ 17 · L12955
  • زعجالزاء والعين والجيم أصل واحد يدل على الإقلاق وقلة الاستقرارL12981
In the sister scriptsHebrew ז ע מSyriac ܙ ܥ ܡ
Arabicز ع م
Hebrewז ע מ
Syriacܙ ܥ ܡ
Ancient South Arabian (musnad)𐩸 𐩲 𐩣
Phoenician𐤆 𐤏 𐤌

Letter for letter, by the regular sound correspondences of the Semitic languages (Arabic keeps several sounds the others merged). This shows how the root would be spelled; whether a related word exists is a separate question, answered in the Semitic lens. Where an Arabic sibilant (s, sh) continues two older sounds, both spellings are shown.

  • Classical lexiconAl-Khalīl already marks zaʿama as doubtful speech, contrasted with dhakara (which is nearer to the truth), and glosses the Quranic bi-zaʿmihim as 'by their false saying';well attested

    The lexicographers in chronological order, from al-Khalīl to Lane.

    Al-Khalīl already marks zaʿama as doubtful speech, contrasted with dhakara (which is nearer to the truth), and glosses the Quranic bi-zaʿmihim as 'by their false saying'; he also records zaʿīm al-qawm as their spokesman-chief and zaʿīm as kafīl (surety), citing the Yūsuf verse. Al-Jawharī confirms the triliteral vocalizations (zaʿm/zuʿm/ziʿm = qāla), the surety sense (zaʿamtu bihi = kafaltu, with the ḥadīth al-zaʿīmu ghārim), and zaʿāma as siyāda/chieftainship, plus a separate sense zaʿm = ṭamaʿ (covetise). Ibn Fāris in the Maqāyīs fixes the two aṣls explicitly — unverified speech (citing 64:7) and suretyship (deriving the chief's zaʿāma from his 'guaranteeing' affairs) — and adds zaʿama fī ghayri mazʿam, coveting without object. Al-Rāghib sharpens the Quranic usage: al-zaʿm is a reported saying that is maẓinnat al-kadhib (suspected of falsehood), so every Quranic occurrence carries censure of the speaker; he explains zaʿīm (guarantor or chief) as extended from this same suspicion attaching to a person's word. Ibn Manẓūr and Lane preserve both strands intact, with Ibn Manẓūr transmitting al-Layth's rule that dhakara implies certainty and zaʿama implies doubt or likely falsehood, directly applied to Q. 6:136/138.

    Draws on: cayn · sihah · Ibn Fāris · mufradat · lisan · Lane

  • Letters & soundIn the scheme attributed to Ibn ʿArabī, ز corresponds to 'what appears in the element of air,' ع to Nature (al-ṭabīʿa), and م to the human being — a triad that could be read, speculatively, as breath (air/speech) acting through nature upon the human hearer, apt for a root centered on spoken claims.speculative

    What the theorists of sound symbolism would say of these letters. Speculative by nature.

    In the scheme attributed to Ibn ʿArabī, ز corresponds to 'what appears in the element of air,' ع to Nature (al-ṭabīʿa), and م to the human being — a triad that could be read, speculatively, as breath (air/speech) acting through nature upon the human hearer, apt for a root centered on spoken claims. Al-Dabbāgh's letter-values add that ز names 'a thing that harms another upon entering it, or what one guards against,' which resonates with al-Rāghib's point that zaʿm is inherently suspect speech, liable to do harm if believed uncritically; ع for him marks arrival or departure, and م the totality of created beings. These correspondences are drawn entirely from the symbolic systems supplied and are not endorsed by mainstream historical linguistics, which finds no causal link between individual Arabic letters and word-meaning; they are offered here only as an interpretive juxtaposition.

    Draws on: akbari198 · dabbagh

    • al-Dabbāgh, letter-meanings (fatḥa series)
  • Root structureAmong Ibn Fāris's chapter-neighbors, زعق denotes violence in shouting or a bitter/salty sharpness, and زعج denotes unsettledness and lack of stability — both suggest a family of ع-terminal roots touching agitation, into which زعم's 'unstable, unverified speech' could loosely fit.uncertain

    The two-letter nucleus (Ibn Fāris's own chapters) and the permutations of the letters (Ibn Jinnī).

    Among Ibn Fāris's chapter-neighbors, زعق denotes violence in shouting or a bitter/salty sharpness, and زعج denotes unsettledness and lack of stability — both suggest a family of ع-terminal roots touching agitation, into which زعم's 'unstable, unverified speech' could loosely fit. Among the metathetic permutations, عزم (9 Quranic occurrences) is fixed by Ibn Fāris as al-ṣarīma wa'l-qaṭʿ, resolve and decisive cutting-off — the structural inverse, in juxtaposition only, of zaʿm's hesitant, doubt-laden assertion. زمع, glossed as lowliness/paltriness, and معز, glossed as hardness of terrain, are attested but their semantic link to زعم is not established by Ibn Fāris and should be read as bare phonetic kinship. No greater-derivation (al-ishtiqāq al-akbar) argument for this cluster is given in the excerpts, so any claim of a working ز-ع polarity between 'claim' and 'resolve' remains a juxtaposition, not an assertion.

    Draws on: nucleusSiblings · permutations

    • Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lugha, nucleus and permutation entries
  • Semitic kin & loanwordsHebrew preserves a cognate root zʿm, but its attested sense is indignation, denunciation, or cursing (BDB), not 'assertion' or 'unverified claim' — a real but semantically diverged cognate rather than a confirming parallel.uncertain

    Cognates in the sister languages, and whether the word was borrowed.

    Hebrew preserves a cognate root zʿm, but its attested sense is indignation, denunciation, or cursing (BDB), not 'assertion' or 'unverified claim' — a real but semantically diverged cognate rather than a confirming parallel. No confident Aramaic/Syriac, Akkadian, or Geʿez cognate matching either of Ibn Fāris's two Arabic senses (doubtful speech; suretyship) is available from standard comparative material. The Arabic root therefore appears to be an inner-Semitic survival that has shifted meaning independently in Arabic rather than a borrowing; there is no basis here for treating zaʿama as a loanword.

    Draws on: hebrew

    • Brown–Driver–Briggs, Hebrew Lexicon, s.v. זעם
  • Quranic exegesisIn verses like 64:7 ('zaʿama alladhīna kafarū an lan yubʿathū'), the exegetes read zaʿama as the disbelievers' unfounded claim about resurrection, a saying advanced without proof and thus deserving refutation.well attested

    How the classical exegetes read the word in the Quran.

    In verses like 64:7 ('zaʿama alladhīna kafarū an lan yubʿathū'), the exegetes read zaʿama as the disbelievers' unfounded claim about resurrection, a saying advanced without proof and thus deserving refutation. Al-Rāghib generalizes this: every Quranic occurrence of the root carries dispraise of the speaker, since zaʿm names a report suspected of falsehood — he lists 64:7, 18:48, 6:22, and 17:56 as instances where the speakers' claims are precisely what is being exposed as baseless. At 6:136 and 6:138 ('bi-zaʿmihim'), exegetes gloss the phrase as 'by their false assertion,' describing the pagans' self-devised claims about their idol-offerings. At 12:72 and 68:40 ('wa-anā bihi zaʿīm' / 'ayyuhum bi-dhālika zaʿīm'), the sense shifts to zaʿīm as guarantor (kafīl) — al-Rāghib notes explicitly that this may derive either from zaʿāma (suretyship) or from zaʿm (speech), since a guarantor's word, like a claimant's, is something the hearer must decide whether to trust.

    Draws on: quran · tabari-style · mufradat

  • Philosophy & kalāmZaʿm functions in the broader epistemic vocabulary shared by uṣūl al-fiqh and kalām as the weakest grade of assertoric speech, below yaqīn (certainty) and ʿilm (knowledge) and even below ẓann (probable opinion) in some usages, denoting a claim advanced without warrant.plausible

    The word as a technical term in falsafa and theology.

    Zaʿm functions in the broader epistemic vocabulary shared by uṣūl al-fiqh and kalām as the weakest grade of assertoric speech, below yaqīn (certainty) and ʿilm (knowledge) and even below ẓann (probable opinion) in some usages, denoting a claim advanced without warrant. Al-Rāghib's characterization — that zaʿm is speech that is maẓinnat al-kadhib — situates it as the technical opposite of a verified khabar or a demonstrated qaḍiyya in the mutakallimūn's classification of assertions, marking it as testimony not admissible as proof (ḥujja) on its own.

    Draws on: mufradat · epistemic-terminology

    • al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt, s.v. زعم
  • Akbarian readingIn the Faṣṣ Ādam excerpt, Ibn ʿArabī describes a faculty of the soul that is veiled by itself, unable to see anything more excellent than its own essence, and 'claims' (tazʿumu) for itself fitness for every lofty rank and station with God — precisely the classical sense of zaʿm as an unverified, self-interested assertion.plausible

    The word in Ibn ʿArabī's text and terminology.

    In the Faṣṣ Ādam excerpt, Ibn ʿArabī describes a faculty of the soul that is veiled by itself, unable to see anything more excellent than its own essence, and 'claims' (tazʿumu) for itself fitness for every lofty rank and station with God — precisely the classical sense of zaʿm as an unverified, self-interested assertion. The usage is pejorative and consonant with the lexicographers: the faculty's zaʿm is a claim it makes about itself from behind its own veil, without the shuhūd or dhawq that would ground a true claim to rank. This is not listed among Ibn ʿArabī's technical terms (iṣṭilāḥāt) but is used in its ordinary censorious Quranic register.

    Draws on: fassAdam

    • Ibn ʿArabī, Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam, Faṣṣ Ādam
Neighbouring rootsThe roots that share letters with this one, as a map you can open out