هیولا

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic هَيُولَى (hayūlā), from Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē). "Primitive formless base of matter" > "monster, bizarre and supernatural creature".

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ha.juː.ˈlɑː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [hä.juː.lɑ́ː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [hä.juː.lɑ́ː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔä.juː.lɑ́ː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔä.ju.lɔ́ː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [hæ.juː.lɒ́ː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [hä.ju.lɔ́]

Readings
Classical reading?	hayūlā
Dari reading?	hayūlā
Iranian reading?	hayulâ
Tajik reading?	hayulo

Noun

هیولا • (hayulâ)

1. monster

   هیولای غول‌پیکر ― hayulâ-ye ğul-peykar ― gigantic monster

2. (original sense, alchemy, Greek philosophy) prima materia
   • c. 1580, Vahshī Bāfqī, خلد برین‎^[1]:

     نه سخن کون و نه ذکر مکان
     نه ز هیولا وز صورت نشان
     نام سما و لقب ارض نه
     عمق نه و طول نه و عرض نه

     na suxan-i kawn u na zikr-i makān
     na zi hayūlā w-az surat nišān
     nām-i samā u laqab-i arz na
     umq na u tūl na u arz na

     Not talk about being, nor mention of space;
     Nor a discussion of essence and of form;
     Nor the name of heaven and the title of the earth,
     Nor of depth, nor of length, nor of width.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “هیولا”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim