المعنى الاصطلاحي :

The famous ten modes of Qur’anic recitation that are reported by multiple consecutive chains of narration and attributed to the seven famous Imams as well as the other three Imams.

الشرح المختصر :

"Al-Qirā’āt al-‘Ashr" (the ten recitations) are the modes of recitation that the seven famous reciters chose, in addition to the three continuously transmitted recitations that were added to these seven by Imam Ibn al-Jazari. The seven reciters are: ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Āmir, Ibn Katheer al-Makki, ‘Āsim ibn Bahdalah al-Koofi, Abu ‘Amr al-Basri, Hamzah al-Koofi, Nāfi‘ al-Madani, and Al-Kisā’i al-Koofi. The remaining three reciters are: Abu Ja‘far al-Madani, Ya‘qūb al-Hadrami, and Khalaf ibn Hishām. These are the ten recitations that fulfill the fundamental conditions of the acceptable recitation, which are: transmission proven by multiple continuous chains of narrations, correspondence with the ‘Uthmāni script, and agreement with the rules of the Arabic language. "Qirā’āt" is the plural of "qirā’ah", which refers to a manner of pronouncing the Qur’an whereby a leading scholar of the Qur’an differs from others. It is a condition that the multiple ways of transmission and reports going back to that scholar agree on that manner of recitation.