قسط

From the root ق س ط (q s ṭ). If the noun goes so far as to mean justice, it is perhaps a semantic loan from Classical Syriac ܩܘܼܫܬܿܵܐ (qūštā, “truth, rectitude, justice”), while others go even so far as to consider a borrowing from Latin iūstitia, whereas the use for a measure is Aramaic קִיסְטָא / ܩܸܣܛܵܐ (qesṭā) from Byzantine Greek ξέστης (xéstēs) from Latin sextārius (“a cubic measure”). The presence of a denominal verb from قِسْطَاس (qisṭās, “weigher”) is also possible.

قَسَّطَ • (qassaṭa) II (non-past يُقَسِّطُ (yuqassiṭu), verbal noun تَقْسِيط (taqsīṭ))

1. to dispense, to allot

• Maltese: qassat

قِسْط • (qisṭ) m (plural أَقْسَاط (ʔaqsāṭ))

1. a vague amount or time of

   خُذ قِسْطاً مِن الراحة! ― ḵuḏ qisṭan min ar-rāḥa! ― Get some rest!

2. equity, equitability
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 3:21:

     إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَكۡفُرُونَ بِـَٔايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ وَيَقۡتُلُونَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ بِغَيۡرِ حَقّٖ وَيَقۡتُلُونَ ٱلَّذِينَ يَأۡمُرُونَ بِٱلۡقِسۡطِ مِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ فَبَشِّرۡهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ.

     Lo! those who disbelieve the revelations of Allah, and slay the prophets wrongfully, and slay those of mankind who enjoin equity: promise them a painful doom.

3. lot, portion, share, tranche
   1. installment
   2. meed, premium
   3. payment, payout
4. (obsolete) a volume measure of 1.2158 liters in the small and 2.4336 liters in the large variant, 2.106 liters in Egypt

• → Classical Persian: قِسْط (qist)
  • → Bengali: কিস্তি (kisti)
  • → Hindustani: qist

    Hindi: क़िस्त

    Urdu: قِسْط

• → Ottoman Turkish: قسط (kıst)
  • Turkish: kıst

قَسْط • (qasṭ) m

1. injustice

• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 205
• Garosi, Eugenio (1 December 2022) “Regional Diversity in the Use of Administrative Loanwords in Early Islamic Arabic Documentary Sources (632–800 CE): A Preliminary Survey”, in Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean World. From Constantinople to Baghdad, 500-1000 CE, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 416
• Hinz, Walther (1955, 1970) Islamische Maße und Gewichte: umgerechnet ins metrische System (Handbuch der Orientalistik. Erste Abteilung: der nahe und der mittlere Osten; Ergänzungsband 1, Heft 1) (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 50
• Jeffery, Arthur (1938) The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʾān (Gaekwad’s Oriental Series; 79), Baroda: Oriental Institute, pages 237–238
• Shahîd, Irfan (2008) “Latin Loanwords”, in Versteegh, Kees, editor, Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 7
• “qsṭ”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “qšwṭ”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–

From Ancient Greek κόστος (kóstos), from Sanskrit कुष्ठ (kuṣṭha).

قُسْط • (qusṭ) m

1. costus (both Costus gen. and Saussurea costus (syns. Saussurea lappa, Aucklandia lappa))

• → Middle Armenian: ղուստ (ġust), խուստ (xust), կոստ (kost), կօստ (kōst)
• → Coptic: ⲕⲟⲩⲥ̅ⲧ (kous̅t)

• طَقْس (ṭaqs)

From Arabic قَسَّطَ (qassaṭa).

• IPA^(key): /ɡas.satˤ/

قَسَّط • (gassaṭ) II (non-past يِقَسِّط (yigassiṭ))

1. to process an installment plan

From Arabic قِسْطْ (qisṭ).

• IPA^(key): /ɡistˤ/, [ɡɪstˤ]

قِسْط • (gisṭ) m (plural أَقْساط (ʔagsāṭ))

1. (finance) installment, partial payment

Borrowed from Arabic قِسْط (qisṭ, “equity; lot, portion, share”).

قسط • (kıst) (definite accusative قسطی (kıstı), plural اقساط (eksât))

1. justice, equity, fairness, impartiality, the state or characteristic of being just or fair

   Synonyms: انصاف (insaf), عدالت (ʼadalet), عدل (ʼadl)

2. share, lot, a portion of something, especially a portion given or allotted to someone

   Synonyms: پای (pay), حصه (hisse), نصیب (nâsib)

3. (finance) installment, one member of a series of portions of a debt or sum of money

   Synonym: تقسیط (tâksit)

4. (obsolete) kist, a measure of 1.2158 liters in the small and 2.4336 in the large variant

• Turkish: kıst

Borrowed from Arabic قُسْط (qusṭ, “costus”), ultimately from Sanskrit कुष्ठ (kuṣṭha, “crepe ginger”).

قسط • (kust) (definite accusative قسطی (kustu), plural قسطلر (kustlar))

1. costus, a composite growing on the Himalayas whose root has been used in traditional medicine (Saussurea costus)

Borrowed from Arabic قِسْط (qisṭ).

قسط • (qist / ġest) (Tajik spelling қист)

1. (finance) installment, partial payment
2. (formal) equity, equitability, justice

   هدف خدا از ارسال پیامبران قیام مردم به قسط و عدل بوده است.

   hadaf-e xodâ az ersâl-e payâmbarân qiyâm-e mardom be qest o adl bude ast.

   God's aim in sending the prophets was for people to set themselves to equity and justice.

• → Bengali: কিস্তি (kisti)
• → Hindustani: qist

  Hindi: क़िस्त

  Urdu: قِسْط

Borrowed from Classical Persian قِسْط (qist), borrowed from Arabic قِسْط (qisṭ).

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /qɪst̪/
  • (colloquial) IPA^(key): [kɪst̪]

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪst̪

قِسْط • (qist) f (Hindi spelling क़िस्त)

1. share, portion
2. (finance) installment (ie. partial payment of a loan or debt)
3. (taxation) tax (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)

   Synonym: مَحْصُول (mahsūl)

4. (broadcasting) episode (of a television show)

   گُزِشْتَہ قِسْط ― guziśtā qist ― previous episode

5. (rare) equality; justice

• “قسط”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “قسط”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024) “قسط”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]