تمیز

Egyptian Arabic

Root
م ي ز
1 term

Verb

تميّز • (tamayyiz) V (non-past يتميّز (yitmayyiz))

1. to be distinguished, to be characterised

   مناخ مصر بيتميز بالتنوع الكبير. ― Egypt's climate is characterised by its diversity.

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic تَمْيِيز (tamyīz).

Adjective

تمیز • (temiz)

1. pure, clean, free of flaws or imperfections

   Synonyms: آری (arı), پاك (pak), خالص (halis), صفی (safi)

2. honest, honorable, respectable, estimable
3. recognition, distinction, discrimination
4. manners, etiquette, decorum, politeness, respect, sense

Derived terms

• تمیزلتمك (temizletmek, “to make or let be cleaned”)
• تمیزلك (temizlik, “cleanness; purity”)
• تمیزلمك (temizlemek, “to clean, clear away”)
• تمیزلنمك (temizlenmek, “to become clean”)

Descendants

• Turkish: temiz
• → Serbo-Croatian: tèmiz / тѐмиз

Further reading

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “temiz1”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 4722
• Kélékian, Diran (1911), “تمیز”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[1] (in French), Constantinople: Mihran, page 404
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687), “Purus”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎^[2], Vienna, column 1410
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680), “تمیز”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎^[3], Vienna, column 1404
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “temiz”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “تمیز”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[4], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 595

Persian

Regional synonyms of "clean"

Dari	پاک
Iranian Persian	تمیز
Tajik	пок, тоза

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic تَمْيِيز (tamyīz).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ta.ˈmiːz/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰä.míːz]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰä.míːz]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰä.míːz]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰä.míz]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰæ.míːz]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰä.míz]

Readings
Classical reading?	tamīz
Dari reading?	tamīz
Iranian reading?	tamiz
Tajik reading?	tamiz

Adjective

تمیز • (tamīz / tamiz) (comparative تمیزتَر, superlative تمیزتَرین, Tajik spelling тамиз)

1. clean, neat, tidy

   Antonym: کثیف (kasīf / kasif)

2. properly done
3. recognition, distinction, discrimination
4. manners, etiquette, decorum, politeness, respect, sense

Inflection

Basic forms of تمیز

bare	تمیز (tamiz)
ezâfe	تمیز (tamiz-e)
marked indefinite or relative definite	تمیزی (tamiz-i)

Possessive forms of تمیز

	singular	plural
1st person (“my, our”)	تمیزم (tamizam)	تمیزمان (tamizemân, tamizemun△)
2nd person (“your”)	تمیزت (tamizat, tamizet△)	تمیزتان (tamizetân, tamizetun△)
3rd person (“his, her, its, their”)	تمیزش (tamizaš, tamizeš△)	تمیزشان (tamizešân, tamizešun△)

^△ Colloquial.

Predicative forms of تمیز (tamiz)

	singular	plural
1st person (“I am, we are”)	تمیزم (tamizam)	تمیزیم (tamizim)
2nd person (“you are”)	تمیزی (tamizi)	تمیزید، تمیزین△ (tamizid, tamizin△)
3rd person (“he/she/it is, they are”)	تمیز است، تمیزه△ (tamiz ast, tamize△)	تمیزند، تمیزن△ (tamizand, tamizan△)

^△ Colloquial.

Derived terms

• بد‌تمیز (bad-tamīz / bad-tamiz, “rude; ill-mannered”)
• بد‌تمیزی (bad-tamīzī / bad-tamizi, “disrespect”)
• تمیز کردن (tamīz kardan / tamiz kardan, “to clean”)
• تمیزی (tamīzī / tamizi)

Descendants

• → Bengali: তমিজ (tômiz), তমীজ (tomij)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: तमीज़ (tamīz)

  Urdu: تَمِیز (tamīz)

• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਤਮੀਜ਼ (tamīz), ਤਮੀਜ (tamīj) — nuqtaless

  Shahmukhi script: تَمِیز (tamīz)

Noun

تمیز • (tamīz / tamiz) (Tajik spelling тамиз)

1. discernment; discrimination between things

Punjabi

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian تمیز (tamīz), from Arabic تَمْيِيز (tamyīz), verbal noun of مَيَّزَ (mayyaza, “differentiate”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /t̪meːz/, [t̪meːz(ə̆)]

Noun

تَمِیز • (tamīz) f (Gurmukhi spelling ਤਮੀਜ਼)

1. recognition, distinction, discrimination
2. manners, etiquette, decorum, politeness, respect, sense

Derived terms

• بَدتَمِیز (bad tamīz, “rude; ill-mannered”)
• بَدتَمِیزی (bad tamīzī, “disrespect”)

Further reading

• “ਤਮੀਜ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2026

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian تمیز (tamīz), itself from Arabic تَمْيِيز (tamyīz).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /t̪ə.miːz/
• Rhymes: -iːz

Noun

تَمِیز • (tamīz) f (Hindi spelling तमीज़)

1. recognition, distinction, discrimination
2. manners, etiquette, decorum, politeness, respect, sense

Declension

Declension of تمیز

	singular	plural
direct	تَمِیز (tamīz)	تَمِیزیں (tamīzẽ)
oblique	تَمِیز (tamīz)	تَمِیزوں (tamīzõ)
vocative	تَمِیز (tamīz)	تَمِیزو (tamīzo)

Derived terms

• بَدتَمِیز (bad tamīz, “rude; ill-mannered”)
• بَدتَمِیزی (bad tamīzī, “disrespect”)

References

• “تمیز”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “تمیز”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.