سواد

Arabic

سَوَاد صَبِيّةٍ (sawād ṣabiyyatin, “the silhouette of a girl”)

Root
س و د (s-w-d)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sa.waːd/

Noun

سَوَاد • (sawād) m (plural أَسْوِدَة (ʔaswida) or أَسَاوِد (ʔasāwid))

1. (uncountable) blackness, black
2. (uncountable or countable) an indistinct or unrecognizable figure; a shape; a silhouette; the shadow of a thing or an animal

   رَأَيْتُ سَوَادًا مِنْ بَعِيدٍ ― raʔaytu sawādan min baʕīdin ― I saw a shape in the distance.

3. (uncountable) multitude (of people)

   سَوَادُ النَّاس ― sawādu n-nās ― the majority of people

4. (countable, rare) the body of a human or an animal

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ar:body

5. (uncountable, dated) the backwoods; the countryside

   Synonyms: رِيف (rīf, “the countryside”), كَفْر (kafr, “a village”)

Declension

Declension of noun سَوَاد (sawād)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سَوَاد sawād	السَّوَاد as-sawād	سَوَاد sawād
Nominative	سَوَادٌ sawādun	السَّوَادُ as-sawādu	سَوَادُ sawādu
Accusative	سَوَادًا sawādan	السَّوَادَ as-sawāda	سَوَادَ sawāda
Genitive	سَوَادٍ sawādin	السَّوَادِ as-sawādi	سَوَادِ sawādi
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سَوَادَيْن sawādayn	السَّوَادَيْن as-sawādayn	سَوَادَيْ sawāday
Nominative	سَوَادَانِ sawādāni	السَّوَادَانِ as-sawādāni	سَوَادَا sawādā
Accusative	سَوَادَيْنِ sawādayni	السَّوَادَيْنِ as-sawādayni	سَوَادَيْ sawāday
Genitive	سَوَادَيْنِ sawādayni	السَّوَادَيْنِ as-sawādayni	سَوَادَيْ sawāday
Plural	broken plural triptote in ـَة (-a)‎; basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَسْوِدَة‎; أَسَاوِد ʔaswida‎; ʔasāwid	الْأَسْوِدَة‎; الْأَسَاوِد al-ʔaswida‎; al-ʔasāwid	أَسْوِدَة‎; أَسَاوِد ʔaswidat‎; ʔasāwid
Nominative	أَسْوِدَةٌ‎; أَسَاوِدُ ʔaswidatun‎; ʔasāwidu	الْأَسْوِدَةُ‎; الْأَسَاوِدُ al-ʔaswidatu‎; al-ʔasāwidu	أَسْوِدَةُ‎; أَسَاوِدُ ʔaswidatu‎; ʔasāwidu
Accusative	أَسْوِدَةً‎; أَسَاوِدَ ʔaswidatan‎; ʔasāwida	الْأَسْوِدَةَ‎; الْأَسَاوِدَ al-ʔaswidata‎; al-ʔasāwida	أَسْوِدَةَ‎; أَسَاوِدَ ʔaswidata‎; ʔasāwida
Genitive	أَسْوِدَةٍ‎; أَسَاوِدَ ʔaswidatin‎; ʔasāwida	الْأَسْوِدَةِ‎; الْأَسَاوِدِ al-ʔaswidati‎; al-ʔasāwidi	أَسْوِدَةِ‎; أَسَاوِدِ ʔaswidati‎; ʔasāwidi

Descendants

• Maltese: swied
• → Persian: سواد (savâd)
  • → Azerbaijani: savad
  • → Kazakh: сауат (sauat)
  • → Middle Armenian: սաւատ (sawat)
  • → Kyrgyz: сабат (sabat)
  • → Tatar: сәвәт (säwät), сәвад (säwad)
  • → Uzbek: савод (savod)

Proper noun

سَوَاد • (sawād) f

1. (archaic, historical) Sawad, a fertile region in southern Iraq

Persian

سواد (sense 7)

سواد (sense 9)

Etymology 1

From Arabic سَوَاد (sawād).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [sa.ˈwɑːð]

 

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

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

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

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

Readings
Classical reading?	sawāḏ
Dari reading?	sawād
Iranian reading?	savâd
Tajik reading?	savod

Noun

سواد • (savâd) (plural سوادها (savâd-hâ))

1. (archaic, literature) blackness (of hair, eyes, ink, etc.)
   • Saadi Shirazi

     لبان لعل چون خون کبوتر -- سواد زلف چون پر پرستو

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (archaic, literature) darkness (of night, etc.)
3. (archaic, literature) innermost part (of heart)
4. (archaic) draft, an early version of a written document
   • Tarikh-i Bayhaqi

     استادم گفته سوادی کرده ام امروز بیاض کنند... گفت [ امیر ] نیک آمد.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

5. (archaic) manuscript (hand-written document)
   • Khaqani

     منم که گاه کتابت سواد شعر مرا فلک سزد که شود دفتر و ملک ورّاق .

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

6. (archaic) copy (the result of copying)
8. (archaic, historical) Sawad, the fertile territory in southern Mesopotamia
9. (archaic) countryside (rural area) (used both in singular and plural forms)
   • Hudud al-'Alam

     و اندر وی [ اندر خوزستان ] رودهای عظیم و آبهای روان است و سوادهای خرم

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

11. (archaic, architecture) decorative facade in Sasanian architecture, such as that of Arch of Ctesiphon
    • مرآت البلدان ناصری

      بالای این درگاه چهار طبقه پنجره است که از برای زینت جلو عمارت بنا شده و به اصطلاح بناهای این عصر آنها را سواد می نامند

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

12. literacy

    در تعریف سنتی سواد، توانایی خواندن و نوشتن است و یا توانایی به‌کاربردن زبان برای خواندن

    In the traditional sense, literacy is either the ability to read and write or one's own ability to read

13. being knowledgeable and competent

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: savad
• → Kazakh: сауат (sauat)
• → Middle Armenian: սաւատ (sawat)
• → Kyrgyz: сабат (sabat)
• → Tatar: сәвәт (säwät), сәвад (säwad)
• → Uzbek: савод (savod)

See also

• باسوادی (bâ-savâdi, “literate, educated”)

Etymology 2

Noun

سواد • (sovâd)

1. an animal disease

References

• Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–) “سواد”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press
• Mo'in, Mohammad (1972) “سواد”, in Moeen Encyclopedic Dictionary [فرهنگ معین] (in Persian), Tehran: Amirkabir