Grammar term · Sarf · morphology
مَصْدَر مِيمِيّ
masdar mimi
Mimi verbal noun
Sarf · morphologyDerived noun (mushtaqq)advanced term150+ in the Qur'an
In one line
A masdar wearing a mim: مَدْخَل means the entering itself — same shape as the place-noun, but naming the event.
Classical definition
المَصْدَرُ المِيمِيُّ مَصْدَرٌ مَبْدُوءٌ بِمِيمٍ زَائِدَةٍ يَدُلُّ عَلَى الحَدَثِ، كَمَوْعِدٍ وَمَقْتَلٍ.
“The mimic masdar is a masdar beginning with an added mim, indicating the event, like maw'id and maqtal.”
(بتصرف من شذا العرف)
Key words in the Arabic
مَبْدُوء بِمِيمٍ زَائِدَةٍopening with an added mim
يَدُلُّ عَلَى الْحَدَثِnames the event itself
Understand it
Third of the mim-triplets: where مَدْخَل can be the door (place) or the entry-moment (time), it can also be the act of entering itself — and then it is a masdar mimi, interchangeable with the ordinary masdar دُخُول. The Qur'an often prefers the mim-shape for rhythm: مُدْخَلَ صِدْقٍ وَمُخْرَجَ صِدْقٍ. Parse it exactly as you would the plain masdar.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A mim-fronted root that names the doing rather than its place or time: swap in the ordinary masdar — if the meaning is unchanged, it is masdar mimi.
In the Qur'an
رَّبِّ أَدْخِلْنِى مُدْخَلَ صِدْقٍ وَأَخْرِجْنِى مُخْرَجَ صِدْقٍ
Al-Isra 17:80 — “My Lord, cause me to enter a sound entrance and to exit a sound exit”
مُدْخَل and مُخْرَج name the entering and exiting themselves — mim-masdars of the mazid verbs أَدْخَلَ / أَخْرَجَ.
Related terms