پستان

See also: بستان and تستأن

Persian

Alternative forms

• پستون (pestun) (colloquial, Tehrani)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *pstḗn

Proto-Indo-European *pstén-o-s

Proto-Indo-Iranian *pstānás

Proto-Iranian *pstānáh

Middle Persian 𐫛𐫏𐫘𐫤𐫀𐫗 (pystʾn' /⁠pestān⁠/)

Persian پستان

Inherited from Middle Persian 𐫛𐫏𐫘𐫤𐫀𐫗 (pystʾn' /⁠pestān⁠/), from Proto-Iranian *pstānáh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *pstānás. Cognate with Sanskrit स्तन॑ (stána), Old Norse speni, Ancient Greek στήνιον (stḗnion), Old Armenian ստին (stin).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /pis.ˈtaːn/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰɪs.t̪ʰɑ́ːn]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰɪs.t̪ʰɑ́ːn]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [pʰɪs.t̪ʰɑ́ːn]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [pʰis.t̪ʰɔ́ːn]

 

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰes.t̪ʰɒ́ːn]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰes.t̪ʰɒ́ːn]
  • (Tehrani) IPA^(key): [pʰes.t̪ʰúːn]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰis.t̪ʰɔ́n]

• Rhymes: -aːn

Readings
Classical reading?	pistān
Dari reading?	pistān
Iranian reading?	pestân
Tajik reading?	piston

Noun

پستان • (pistān / pestân) (plural پستان‌ها (pistān-hā / pestân-hâ), Tajik spelling пистон)

1. breast; teat; udder

   Synonyms: (more polite) سینه (sine), (vulgar) مَمِه (mame)

   • 1963, Forugh Farrokhzad, “معشوق من”, in تولدی دیگر [Another Birth]‎^[1]:

     معشوق من
     انسان ساده‌ایست
     انسان ساده‌ای که من او را
     در سرزمین شوم عجایب
     چون آخرین نشانهٔ یک مذهب شگفت
     در لابلای بوتهٔ پستانهایم
     پنهان نموده‌ام

     ma'šuq-e man
     ensân-e sâde'i-st
     ensân-e sâde'i-st ke man u râ
     dar sarzamin-e šum-e ajâyeb
     čon âxarin nešâne-ye yek mazhab-e šegeft
     dar lâbelâ-ye bute-ye pestânhâ-yam
     penhân namude-am

     My lover
     Is a simple person
     A simple person whom I
     Have hidden
     In the folds of the thicket of my breasts
     Like the final oracle of a religion of wonders
     In a strange and ill-fortuned land

Derived terms

• سرطانِ پستان (saratân-e pestân, “breast cancer”)
• سیاه‌پستان (siyâh-pestân)
• فسرده‌پستان (fesorde-pestân)
• نارپستان (nâr-pestân)
• نوکِ پستان (nowk-e pestân, “nipple”)
• پستانک (pestânak, “pacifier”)
• پستانی (pestâni)
• پستان‌بند (pestân-band, “bra”)
• پستان‌دار (pestân-dâr, “mammal”)

Descendants

• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: पिस्तान (pistān)

  Urdu: پِستان (pistān)

• → Ottoman Turkish: پِستان (pistân)

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934), “پستان”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim
• Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–), “پستان”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press.
• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892), “پستان”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary (overall work in English), London: Routledge & K. Paul, page 250

Urdu

پِستان

Etymology

PIE word
*pstḗn

Borrowed from Classical Persian پستان (pistān, “breast; udder”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /pɪs.t̪ɑːn/
• Rhymes: -ɑːn
• Hyphenation: پِس‧تان

Noun

پِسْتان • (pistān) m (Hindi spelling पिस्तान)

1. breast; bust

   لڑکیوں کے لئے پستان کا ابهار، جوانی کے آغاز کا حصّہ ہے۔

   Laṛkiyõ ke liye pistān kā ubhār, javānī ke āġāz kā hissā hai.

   For girls, the emergence of breasts is part of the onset of adolescence.

2. bosom
3. udder, dug

Derived terms

• پِسْتانیَہ (pistāniya, “mammal”)
• سَرِ پِسْتان (sar-e-pistān, “nipple”, literally “head of the breast”)

References

• “پستان”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971), “پستان”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884), “پستان”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• “پستان”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.