Janus Words In Quran

In English, Janus words are words that can mean one thing and its opposite, thus creating contradictory meanings. Other names for these kinds of words are also contronyms, auto-antonyms, or antagonyms. Examples of this for the English language are the following.

The Arabic term for Janus words is al-ad`daad الاضداد.

In the Quran, determining which meaning to apply is typically determined by the context. With the examples given above, it is clear that one meaning is positive while the other meaning is negative. Therefore if the context is positive, then the positive meaning is applied, and if the meaning is negative, then the negative meaning is applied.