حیا

See also: حيا

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic حَيَاء (ḥayāʔ).

Pronunciation

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

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [hä.jɑ́ː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [hä.jɑ́ː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔä.jɑ́ː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔä.jɔ́ː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [hæ.jɒ́ː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [hä.jɔ́]

Readings
Classical reading?	hayā
Dari reading?	hayā
Iranian reading?	heyâ
Tajik reading?	hayo

Noun

حیا • (hayâ)

1. modesty, bashfulness
   • c. 1520, Selim I of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Benedek Péri, The Persian Dīvān of Yavuz Sulṭān Selīm, Budapest, Hungary: Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, →ISBN, page 70:

     با این زبان ز بردن نامش حیا کنم
     دایم اگرچه ذکر دلم نام مسطفا

     bā īn zabān zi burdan-i nāmaš hayā kunam
     dāyim agarči zikr-i dilam nām-i mustafā

     I am ashamed to mention his name with this tongue [of mine],
     Though my heart's prayer is always Muhammad's name.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

Further reading

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

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian حیا (ḥayā), itself from Arabic حَيَاء (ḥayāʔ). First attested as Middle Hindi حیا (ḥayā)

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɦə.jɑː/
• Rhymes: -ɑː
• Hyphenation: حَ‧یا
• Homophone: ہیا (hayā)

Noun

حَیَا • (ḥayā) f (Hindi spelling हया)

1. modesty
2. honour
3. veil

Declension

Declension of حیا
	singular	plural
direct	حَیَا (ḥayā)	حَیَائیں (ḥayāẽ)
oblique	حَیَا (ḥayā)	حَیَاؤں (ḥayāõ)
vocative	حَیَا (ḥayā)	حَیَاؤ (ḥayāo)

Further reading

• “حیا”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “حیا”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “حیا”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.