زیر

See also: زیرـ, زير, and ریز

Persian

Alternative forms

زیل (zēl / zil) (dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle Persian [script needed] (hcdl /⁠azēr⁠/, “underneath”), from Old Persian *hacā-adari, equivalent to 𐏃𐎨𐎠 (h-c-a /⁠hacā⁠/, “from”, from Proto-Iranian *háčaH, from Proto-Indo-European *sékʷ-eh₂) + *adari (“under”, from Proto-Iranian *(H)adárah, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *(H)adʰáras, from Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰ-ér-o-s, distantly related to English under).

The prepositional usage is a contraction of older در زیر (dar zēr-i / dar zir-e, literally “in the underneath of”) or به زیر (ba zēr-i / be zir-e, literally “at the underneath of”); the full forms are dated in Iran but more common in the eastern lands.

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈzeːr/

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [zeːɾ]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [zeːɾ]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [zeːɾ]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ziːɹ]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [zeɾ]

Readings
Classical reading^?	zēr
Dari reading^?	zēr
Iranian reading^?	zir
Tajik reading^?	zer

Noun

زیر • (zēr / zir) (plural زیرها (zēr-hā / zir-hâ), Tajik spelling зер)

lower part; bottom
something underneath
kasra (vowel diacritic placed under the letter)
Synonym: کسره (kasra / kasre)
(music) high-pitched tune; soprano or treble
- 1177, Farīd ud-Dīn ʿAṭṭār, “The tale of the nightingale”, in منطق‌الطیر [The Conference of the Birds]‎^[1]:
  زاری اندر نی ز گفتار منست
  زیر چنگ از نالهٔ زار من است
  rāzē andar nay zi guftār-i man ast
  zēr-i čang az nāla-yi zār-i man ast
  The mystery in the flute is from my speech;
  The treble of the harp is from my forlorn cries.
  (Classical romanization)

Derived terms

زیر بغل (zēr-i baġal / zir-e baġal, “armpit”)

Preposition

زیر

Prepositions of location

زیر • (zēr / zir) (Tajik spelling зер)

(with ezâfe) under; underneath; beneath
Synonym: تحت (taht-e)

― zir-e miz ― under the table

― zir-e nazar-e setâd ― under the oversight of EIKO
- 1967, Samad Behrangi, ماهی سیاه کوچولو [The Little Black Fish]:
  خانه ی ماهی کوچولو و مادرش پشت سنگ سیاهی بود؛ زیر سقفی از خزه.
  xâne-ye mâhi-ye kučulu o mâdar-eš pošt-e sang-e siyâhi bud; zir-e saqfi az xaze.
  The house of the little fish and his mother was behind a black stone, under a roof of moss.

Adjective

زیر • (zēr / zir) (Tajik spelling зер)

under; below
in kalame mi-tavânad be mavâred-e zir ešâre dâšte bâšad.
This word may refer to the topics below.
high-pitched
Synonym: نازک (nâzok)

Derived terms

زیر گرفتن (zēr giriftan / zir gereftan, “to run over”, literally “to take under”)
لباس زیر (libās-i zēr / lebâs-e zir, “underwear”)

Descendants

→ Arabic: زِير (zīr)
→ Azerbaijani: zil
→ Hindustani:
Hindi: ज़ेर (zer)

Urdu: زیر (zer)
→? Ottoman Turkish: زل (zil), زیل (zil)
- Turkish: zil
- → Albanian: zile
- → Cypriot Greek: ζίλιν (zílin)
- → English: zill, zil
- → Georgian: ზილი (zili)
- → Middle Armenian: զիլ (zil)
  - Armenian: զիլ (zil)
- → Serbo-Croatian: zȉl / зи̏л
→ Pashto: زير (zir)

References

Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1973), “զիլ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume II, Yerevan: University Press, page 95a
Horn, Paul (1893), Grundriss der neupersischen Etymologie (in German), Strasbourg: K.J. Trübner, § 680, pages 258—259
Hübschmann, Heinrich (1895), Persische Studien [Persian Studies] (in German), Strasbourg: K.J. Trübner, page 71
Hübschmann, Heinrich (1897), Armenische Grammatik. 1. Theil: Armenische Etymologie (in German), Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, page 265
Rastorgujeva, V. S.; Edelʹman, D. I. (2000), Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume 1, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, page 82