Learn ArabicB2 › ران

ران

to overcome, to settle over and cover (as rust covers iron, or sin covers a heart) /ˈraː.na/

verbB2#4030 most common

Also: to cloud over (the heart or mind), to overpower (sleep, fear, silence), to rust over

Example sentences

النعاسُ رانَ عليه.
Drowsiness overcame him.
رانَ الصدأُ على الحديدِ القديمِ.
Rust covered the old iron.
رانَ الحزنُ على قلبِها بعدَ الخبرِ.
Sadness settled over her heart after the news.
كَلَّا بل رانَ على قلوبهم ما كانوا يكسبون.
No indeed, what they used to commit has covered their hearts.
يَرينُ الصمتُ على المجلسِ كلما ذُكِرَ اسمُه.
Silence settles over the gathering whenever his name is mentioned.
رانَ الخوفُ على نفوسِ القومِ حتى عجزوا عن الكلامِ.
Fear overcame the people's spirits until they could no longer speak.

Conjugation

Present ActiveSimple Past ActiveSimple Future Active
1sgأَرِينُرِنْتُسَأَرِينُ
2sgتَرِينُرِنْتَسَتَرِينُ
3sgيَرِينُرانَسَيَرِينُ
1plنَرِينُرِنّاسَنَرِينُ
2plتَرِينونَرِنْتُمسَتَرِينونَ
3plيَرِينونَرانواسَيَرِينونَ

Word family

رَيْنrust, stain, a covering veil over the heart
يَرِينُpresent tense: it overcomes, it settles over
رَائِنoverpowering, settling over (rare, classical use)

Etymology

The verb ران comes from the Semitic root ر-ي-ن, a hollow triliteral whose middle radical ي collapses into a long ā in most forms. Classical dictionaries describe it as something settling over and taking hold, the way rust settles on iron or sleep settles over a body. Its best-known appearance is in the Quran, where wrongdoing is said to cover the heart until it can no longer perceive the truth. No confirmed cognates outside Arabic are documented, so no wider Semitic or Proto-Semitic reconstruction is given here.

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