خواردن

Persian

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Persian [script needed] (xwārīdan, “to drink”). This verb became somewhat semantically conflated with Persian خوردن (xordan, “to eat”). From Proto-Iranian *hwar- (“to eat, consume”). Cognates include Northern Kurdish xwarin (“to eat”) and vexwarin (“to drink”), Pashto خوړل (khwaṛël, “to eat”), Ossetian хӕрд (xærd, “food”) and Avestan 𐬓𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (xᵛaraⁱti, “to consume, eat”). Compare also Old Armenian խորտիկ (xortik, “food”) and խորակ (xorak, “kind of pastry”), Iranian borrowings.

Original meaning of the root was "to take". During the Proto-Iranian period it replaced the native Indo-European root for "to eat" *h₁ed- (>Proto-Iranian *Had-; compare Latin edō, Ancient Greek ἔδω (édō), English eat), perhaps originally being used in a more informal way. The other root has been preserved in several nominal formations, such as Persian اسپست (aspast, “alfalfa”) and Ossetian ад (ad, “taste”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [xʷɑːɾ.ˈdan]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [xɑːɾ.d̪ǽn]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [xɑːɾ.d̪ǽn]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [xɑːɾ.d̪ǽn]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [xɔːɾ.d̪ǽn]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [xɒːɹ.d̪ǽn]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [χɔɾ.d̪ǽn]

Readings
Classical reading?	xwārdan
Dari reading?	xārdan
Iranian reading?	xârdan
Tajik reading?	xordan

Verb

خواردن • (xârdan) (present stem خوار (xâr)) (dialectal)

1. to drink
2. to eat

Derived terms

• خونخوار (xun-xâr, “bloodthirsty”, literally “blood-drinker”)
• شیرخوار (šir-xâr, “newborn; child who still drinks the milk of its mother”, literally “milk-drinker”)

 

References

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “خواردن”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim
• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892) “خواردن”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul
• Cheung, Johnny (2007) Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 2), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 147

Southern Kurdish

Verb

خواردن (xwardin)

1. (transitive, intransitive) to eat