لیکن

Pahari-Potwari

لیکن (lekin)

Borrowed from Arabic لٰكِنْ (lākin, “but”) (with the long vowel shifted by imāla). Compare Classical Persian (ēmin) and (balē), from Arabic آمِنْ (ʔāmin) and بَلَى (balā).

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [leː.kʰɪ́n]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [leː.kʰɪ́n]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [li.kʰín]

لیکن • (lēkin / liken or likan) (Tajik spelling лекин)

(Dari, Tajik, uncommon in Iran) but, however
Synonyms: (Dari) مگر (magar), ولی (walē / vali), اما (ammā / ammâ)
- c. 1911, Mohammad Hossein Âğuli Torki-ye Shirâzi, دیوان ترکی شیرازی‎^[1]:
  عشق در عالم معنی ست نهالی شاداب
  خوش نهالی ست و لیکن ثمرش جز غم نیست
  ešq dar âlam ma'ni-st nahâli šâdâb
  xoš nahâli-st va likan samr-aš joz ġam nist
  The meaning of love in the world is a well-watered sapling;
  It is a pretty sapling, but its fruit is naught but grief.
(Dari, otherwise dated) only
Synonyms: تنها (tanhā / tanhâ), فقط (faqat / faġat)

→ Bengali: লেকিন (lekin)
→ Chagatai: لیکن (lykn /⁠lekin⁠/)
- Uyghur: لېكىن (lëkin)
- Uzbek:
  Latin script: lekin
  
  Afghan Uzbek: لېکِن (lekin)
→ Hindustani:
Hindi: लेकिन (lekin)

Urdu: لیکِن (lekin)
→ Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: لێکن (lêkin)

Northern Kurdish: lêkin, lê
→ Pashto: لېکن (leken), ليکن (layken)
→ Punjabi:
Gurmukhi script: ਲੇਕਿਨ (lekin), ਲੇਕਨ (lekan)

Shahmukhi script: لیکن (lekin, lekan)

لیکن • (lekin or lekan) (Gurmukhi spelling ਲੇਕਿਨ)

لیکِن • (lekin) (Hindi spelling लेकिन)

“لیکن”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
“لیکن”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.