Quran glossary · accepted

ءَادَم / آدَم

Adam (the ground-derived human)

The proper name Adam, rendered as the ground-derived human, across its Quranic orthographic forms.

Lexical scope

Scope: lemma · Occurrences: 25

Roots: أدم

Lemmas: آدم

Forms: ءَادَمَ · ـَٔادَمُ · ءَادَمُ

Occurrence examples (10 of 25)

Scoped occurrences shown: the first 10 of 25 in Quran order. They are included as a compact, position-based preview and are not ranked as stronger evidence than the omitted occurrence count of 15.

2:31

وَعَلَّمَ ءَادَمَ ٱلْأَسْمَآءَ كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ فَقَالَ أَنۢبِـُٔونِى بِأَسْمَآءِ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَٰدِقِينَ

2:33

قَالَ يَٰٓـَٔادَمُ أَنۢبِئْهُم بِأَسْمَآئِهِمْ فَلَمَّآ أَنۢبَأَهُم بِأَسْمَآئِهِمْ قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكُمْ إِنِّىٓ أَعْلَمُ غَيْبَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَأَعْلَمُ مَا تُبْدُونَ وَمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْتُمُونَ

2:34

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ ٱسْجُدُوا۟ لِـَٔادَمَ فَسَجَدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِبْلِيسَ أَبَىٰ وَٱسْتَكْبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنَ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ

2:35

وَقُلْنَا يَٰٓـَٔادَمُ ٱسْكُنْ أَنتَ وَزَوْجُكَ ٱلْجَنَّةَ وَكُلَا مِنْهَا رَغَدًا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلَا تَقْرَبَا هَٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ

2:37

فَتَلَقَّىٰٓ ءَادَمُ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ كَلِمَٰتٍ فَتَابَ عَلَيْهِ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

3:33

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ ٱصْطَفَىٰٓ ءَادَمَ وَنُوحًا وَءَالَ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ وَءَالَ عِمْرَٰنَ عَلَى ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ

3:59

إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَىٰ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ ءَادَمَ خَلَقَهُۥ مِن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُۥ كُن فَيَكُونُ

5:27

وَٱتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ ٱبْنَىْ ءَادَمَ بِٱلْحَقِّ إِذْ قَرَّبَا قُرْبَانًا فَتُقُبِّلَ مِنْ أَحَدِهِمَا وَلَمْ يُتَقَبَّلْ مِنَ ٱلْـَٔاخَرِ قَالَ لَأَقْتُلَنَّكَ قَالَ إِنَّمَا يَتَقَبَّلُ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ

7:11

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَٰكُمْ ثُمَّ صَوَّرْنَٰكُمْ ثُمَّ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ ٱسْجُدُوا۟ لِـَٔادَمَ فَسَجَدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِبْلِيسَ لَمْ يَكُن مِّنَ ٱلسَّٰجِدِينَ

7:19

وَيَٰٓـَٔادَمُ ٱسْكُنْ أَنتَ وَزَوْجُكَ ٱلْجَنَّةَ فَكُلَا مِنْ حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلَا تَقْرَبَا هَٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ

cross-scriptural naming

Why 'the ground-derived human'?

Genesis places the Hebrew words for the human and the ground beside one another, then develops the same word from humankind into the individual name Adam.

Genesis 1:25 distinguishes אֶרֶץ (ʾereṣ), the broader land or earth, from אֲדָמָה (ʾădāmāh), the material ground or soil. It speaks of חַיַּת הָאָרֶץ, the animal of the land, and רֶמֶשׂ הָאֲדָמָה, the creeping thing of the ground. The prefixed הָ (ha-) is the definite article ‘the’.

Genesis 2:7 then places הָאָדָם (hā-ʾādām, the human) beside הָאֲדָמָה (hā-ʾădāmāh, the ground): the human is formed as dust from the ground. The juxtaposition makes the human-ground wordplay part of the text itself.

In Genesis 1:26-27, אָדָם first denotes the human or humankind, explicitly created male and female. The same word later functions as the individual’s name. ‘Adam (the ground-derived human)’ therefore keeps the proper name while preserving that broader scriptural sense.

This is a cross-scriptural naming rationale, not Quran-internal evidence that Arabic آدم derives from Hebrew אֲדָמָה. It also does not decide the separate historical question of whether the Hebrew words derive one from the other or share an older root.

Primary-text sources