سمندر

Pashto

Etymology

Borrowed from Hindustani سَمُنْدَر (samundar) / समंदर (samandar), from Sanskrit समुद्र (samudra).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /səmˈənˈd̪ər/

Noun

سمندر • (səməndər) m

1. ocean

Persian

سمندر

Alternative forms

• سمندل (samandal)
• سمندول (samandul)
• سمندور (samandur)
• سمندون (samandun)
• سمندوک (samanduk)

Etymology

Long considered a compound of سام (sâm, “fire, flame”) +‎ اندر (andar, “inside”) by most Persian dictionaries. This would be semantically plausible in view of the ancient belief that the salamander can survive fire, or even feeds on it. Compare the Persian synonym آذرشین (âzaršin, literally “fire-sitter”).

Dehkhoda rejects this derivation and contends that it is folk etymology, as سمندر (samandar) is most likely from Ancient Greek σαλαμάνδρα (salamándra). The origin of the Greek term is uncertain, however, so there remains a small possibility that it may itself be from Persian.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /sa.man.ˈdar/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [sä.män̪.d̪áɾ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [sä.män̪.d̪áɾ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [sä.män̪.d̪áɾ]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [sä.män̪.d̪áɾ]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [sæ.mæn̪.d̪ǽɹ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [sä.män̪.d̪áɾ]

Readings
Classical reading?	samandar
Dari reading?	samandar
Iranian reading?	samandar
Tajik reading?	samandar

Noun

Dari	سمندر
Iranian Persian
Tajik	самандар, саламандр

سَمَنْدَر • (samandar)

1. salamander
   • 9th century, Rudaki

     به آتش درون بر مثال سمندر
     به آب اندرون بر مثال نهنگان

     ba âtaš darôn bar misâl-î samadar, ba âb andarôn bar misâl-î nahangân

     in fire like a salamander, in water like a whale

2. a mythological fire-dwelling creature which will die should it leave the fire

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: səməndər
• → Malay: semandar
• → Ottoman Turkish: سمندر (semender)
  • Turkish: semender

Urdu

Etymology

Semi-learned borrowing from Sanskrit समुद्र (samudra). Doublet of سَمُدْر (samudr). First attested in c. 1564 as Middle Hindi سمندر (smndr).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /sə.mʊn.d̪əɾ/
• (Punjabic Urdu, Delhi Urdu) IPA^(key): /sə.mən.d̪əɾ/
• Rhymes: -əɾ
• Hyphenation: سَ‧مُن‧دَر

Noun

سَمُنْدَر • (samundar) f (Hindi spelling समंदर)

1. sea, ocean

   Synonyms: ساگَر (sāgar), بَحَر (bahar)

2. (figuratively) vast; boundless; limitless (entity, land etc.)

Usage notes

Samundar is standard Urdu, although Fallon (repeated by Shams-ud-Din Farooqi) notes that samundar is prevalent in the Eastern [Indian] provinces (states), such as UP. Samandar (not to be confused with the noun meaning 'salamander') is considered dialectal which is prevalent in Punjabic Urdu and Delhi Urdu, and neighbouring regions.

Declension

Declension of سمندر

	singular	plural
direct	سَمُنْدَر (samundar)	سَمُنْدَر (samundar)
oblique	سَمُنْدَر (samundar)	سَمُنْدَروں (samundarõ)
vocative	سَمُنْدَر (samundar)	سَمُنْدَرو (samundaro)

Descendants

• → Pashto: سمندر (samandar)
• → Torwali: سمندر (samandar)
• → Ushojo: سمندر (samandar)

Further reading

• “سمندر”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “سمندر”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971), “سمندر”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884), “سمندر”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• Fallon, S. W. (1879), “سمندر”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co.
• John Shakespear (1834), “سمندر”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC

Ushojo

Etymology

From Urdu سمندر (samandar).

Noun

سمندر (samandar)

1. sea