Quran

Etymology

It is borrowed from Arabic قُرْآن (qurʾān, “recitation, reading”),^{[1][2][3][4][5]} the verbal noun of قَرَأَ (qaraʾa, “to read, recite”).^{[1][2][6][7][5]} The OED and the Shorter Oxford see the Arabic noun as apparently modelled on Classical Syriac ܩܪܝܢܐ (qeryānā, “reading, scripture”),^[1][8][5] and Klein takes the Arabic verb as probably borrowed from an Aramaic verb meaning "he called, recited, read".^[9] The earlier English Alcoran kept the Arabic definite form, الْقُرْآن (al-qurʾān).^[7][5] The OED compares French Coran (1756), Italian corano (before 1367), Dutch koran (1724) and German Koran.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The sacred book of Islam: 1615, spelt Koran, in W. Bedwell's Index Assuratarum;^[1][4] Barnhart dates the form Korran to 1615.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The word has been spelt in many ways in English.^[1][6] Barnhart records Korran (1615), Core (1625) and Koran (1735),^[10][6] and Hoad an 18th-century currawn.^[11] The spelling Qur'an, closer to the Arabic, is recorded from 1787, in J. Gilchrist's Dictionary English and Hindoostanee,^[1] and Quran from 1876, as the variant preferred by scholars.^[12] In its 2023 revision the OED calls Qur'an the now preferred spelling.^[1] Etymonline also describes the book as the standard work of classical Arabic.^[12]

Timeline

• 1615 – the sacred book of Islam, as Koran.^[1][4] Barnhart dates Korran to 1615.^[10]
• 1625 – the form Core.^[6]
• 1787 – the spelling Qur'an.^[1]
• 1876 – the spelling Quran.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. The sacred book of Islam, believed by Muslims to be the word of God revealed in Arabic to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.^[1][4][13]

Word family

• Quranic

Related words

• Koran
• Alcoran
• Islam

Usage notes

Koran is the older English spelling;^[1][6] Qur'an and Quran are now preferred.^[1][12] Merriam-Webster lists Koran, Qur'an, Quran and Qoran.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins