المعنى الاصطلاحي :

A mode of recitation adopted by one of the leading reciters of the Qur’an which is different from the methods of others in pronunciation of the letters of the Qur’an or their orthography and diacritical marks.

الشرح المختصر :

"Qirā’āt" (modes of Qur’an recitation) refers to the different modes of recitation of the words of the Noble Qur’an, whether in pronunciation or in meaning. There are three conditions for the validity of a "qirā’ah": 1. Conformity with the Arabic grammatical structures, even in one aspect. 2. Conformity with the script of one of the copies of the Qur’an distributed during the era of Caliph ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān, even as a probability. 3. Authentic chain of narration.

التعريف اللغوي المختصر :

"Qirā’āt" (sing. qirā’ah): the way the words of the Qur’an are pronounced in recitation. It is derived from "qar’", which means gathering and joining.