روشن

Libyan Arabic

Etymology

From Persian روزن (rowzan), روزنه (rowzane).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /roːʃən/

Noun

روشن (rōšan) m (plural رواشن (rwāšin))

1. window

Persian

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Persian lwšn' (rōšn, “light; bright, light”), from Old Persian *rauxšnā, from Proto-Iranian *ráwxšnaH, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ráwkšnaH, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂ (“moon”). Doublet of رخشان (raxšân, “bright”) and لوخن (loxan, “moon, moonlight”).

Cognates include Latin lūna, Armenian լուսին (lusin), Old Church Slavonic лоуна (luna).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /raw.ˈʃan/, /roː.ˈʃan/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [räw.ʃán], [roː.ʃán]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [räw.ʃán], [roː.ʃán]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [räw.ʃán], [roː.ʃán]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [räw.ʃán], [rʊː.ʃán]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ɹow.ʃǽn]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ɾäw.ʃán], [ɾɵ.ʃán]

Readings
Classical reading?	rawšan, rōšan
Dari reading?	rawšan, rōšan
Iranian reading?	rowšan
Tajik reading?	ravšan, rüšan

• Audio (Dari):

  (file)

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

Adjective

روشن • (rawšan, rōšan / rowšan) (comparative روشن‌تَر, superlative روشن‌تَرین, Tajik spelling равшан, or рӯшан)

1. bright, clear
2. light
3. luminous
   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume II, verse 1106:

     چون نمی‌آیند اینجا که منم
     کاندر این عز آفتاب روشنم‏

     čūn namē-āyand īnjā ki manam
     k-andar īn izz āftāb rawšanam

     How do not they come to this place where I am?
     —for in this (spiritual) glory I am the shining Sun.

4. transparent
5. lighted, lit
6. on (state of being active)
7. clear, conspicuous
8. sure, certain

Antonyms

• خاموش (xāmōš / xâmuš)

Derived terms

• روشن کردن (rawšan kardan / rowšan kardan)
• روشنی (rawšanī / rowšani)

Descendants

• → Bengali: রওশন (roōśon)
• → Gujarati: રોશન (rośan)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: रौशन (rauśan)

  Urdu: روشن (rauśan, rośan)

• → Middle Armenian: ռօշան (ṙōšan)
• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਰੋਸ਼ਨ (rośan)

  Shahmukhi script: روشن (rauśan, rośan)

References

• MacKenzie, D. N. (1971), “rōšn”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 72.
• Edelʹman, D. I. (2020), Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume 6, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, page 420
• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934), “روشن”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim

Sindhi

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian روشَن (rōšan).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɾoː.ʃən]

Adjective

روشَنُ • (rośanu) (Devanagari रोशनु)

1. bright

Further reading

• Sindhi Language Authority (2025), “روشن”, in Online Sindhi Dictionaries‎^[1]

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian روشن (rawšan).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɾɔː.ʃən/, /ɾoː.ʃən/

Adjective

رَوشَن or روشَن • (rauśan or rośan) (Hindi spelling रौशन or रोशन)

1. bright, shining, luminous
2. illuminated; lit, alight
3. manifest, evident, clear
4. splendid; good
5. enlightened

Derived terms

• رَوشَن گَر (rauśan gar, “illuminator”)
• رَوشَن دِل (rauśan dil, “enlightened heart”)

Related terms

• رَوشَنی (rauśanī)

References

• “روشن”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971), “روشن”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884), “روشن”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• “روشن”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.