مزدور

Persian

FWOTD – 7 March 2024

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Persian [script needed] (myzdwbl /⁠mizdwar⁠/, “hireling, hired laborer”). Equivalent to مزد (muzd / mozd, “affliction”) +‎ ـور (-war / -var).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /muz.ˈduːr/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mʊz.d̪úːɾ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mʊz.d̪úːɾ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [mʊz.d̪úːɾ]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [muz.d̪úɾ]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [moz.d̪úːɹ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [muz.d̪úɾ]

Readings
Classical reading?	muzdūr
Dari reading?	muzdūr
Iranian reading?	mozdur
Tajik reading?	muzdur

Noun

مزدور • (muzdūr / mozdur) (Tajik spelling муздур)

1. mercenary
2. hired laborer, hireling
   • c. 1011, Abu'l-Qāsim Firdawsī, “The reign of Yazdgird”, in شاهنامه [Book of Kings]‎^[1]:

     نشسته نظاره من از دورشان
     تو گفتی بدم پیش مزدورشان

     nišasta nazāra man az dūrašān
     tu guftī budam pēš muzdūrašān

     I sat, looking at them from afar:
     You would have said I was a hireling before them.

     (Classical Persian romanization)

Descendants

• > Tajik: муздур (muzdur) (inherited)
• → Azerbaijani: muzdur
• → Bengali: মজদুর (mojodur), মজুর (mojur) — clipping
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: मज़दूर (mazdūr), मजदूर (majdūr) — nuqtaless

  Urdu: مَزْدُور (mazdūr)

• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਮਜ਼ਦੂਰ (mazdūr), ਮਜਦੂਰ (majdūr) (nuqtaless)

  Shahmukhi script: مَزْدُور (mazdūr)

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934), “مزدور”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim
• Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–), “مزدور”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press.

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian مزدور (muzdūr, “mercenary; labourer”), which in turn inherited from Middle Persian [script needed] (myzdwbl /⁠mizdwar⁠/, “hireling, hired laborer”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /məz.d̪uːɾ/
• (alternate) IPA^(key): [muz.d̪uːɾ]
• Rhymes: -uːɾ
• Hyphenation: مَزْ‧دُور

Noun

مَزْدُور • (mazdūr) m (Hindi spelling मज़दूर)

1. labourer, worker
2. porter, carrier, coolly

Declension

Declension of مزدور

	singular	plural
direct	مَزْدُور (mazdūr)	مَزْدُور (mazdūr)
oblique	مَزْدُور (mazdūr)	مَزْدُوروں (mazdūrõ)
vocative	مَزْدُور (mazdūr)	مَزْدُورو (mazdūro)

Derived terms

• مَزْدُوری (mazdūrī, “labour”)

Further reading

• “مزدور”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “مزدور”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971), “مزدور”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.