نكح

نَكَحَ • (nakaḥa) I (non-past يَنْكِحُ (yankiḥu) or يَنْكَحُ (yankaḥu), verbal noun نِكَاح (nikāḥ) or نَكْح (nakḥ))

1. to marry

   Synonym: تَزَوَّجَ (tazawwaja)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:230:

     فَإِن طَلَّقَهَا فَلَا تَحِلُّ لَهُ مِن بَعْدُ حَتَّى تَنْكِحَ زَوْجًا غَيْرَهُ ۗ فَإِن طَلَّقَهَا فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا أَن يَتَرَاجَعَا إِن ظَنَّا أَن يُقِيمَا حُدُودَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَتِلْكَ حُدُودُ ٱللَّهِ يُبَيِّنُهَا لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ

     fa-ʔin ṭallaqahā fa-lā taḥillu lahu min baʕdu ḥattā tankiḥa zawjan ḡayrahu; fa-ʔin ṭallaqahā fa-lā junāḥa ʕalayhimā ʔan yatarājaʕā ʔin ẓannā ʔan yuqīmā ḥudūda lahi; wa-tilka ḥudūdu lahi yubayyinuhā li-qawmin yaʕlamūna

     And if he has divorced her, then she is not lawful to him afterward until she marries a husband other than him. And if the latter husband divorces her, there is no blame upon the woman and her former husband for returning to each other if they think that they can keep the limits of God. These are the limits of God, which He makes clear to a people who know.

2. (vulgar) to have sex with

• The sense “to marry” is standard in Islamic religious discourse and hence sometimes in legal contexts. Otherwise تَزَوَّجَ (tazawwaja) is by far the predominant word in Modern Standard Arabic and نَكَحَ (nakaḥa) should be used with caution because in most vernaculars it has become a vulgar word (to fuck).