پیر

See also: بیر, بير, تثر, بتر, پتر, ثبر, تتر, تبر, بثر, بئر, ببر, بري, ثري, يرب, يرث, يبر, يتر, and يثر

Baluchi

Adjective

پیر • (pír)

1. old

Central Kurdish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /piːɾ/

Adjective

Northern Kurdish	pîr

پیر (pîr)

1. old (of living things)

Derived terms

• باپیر (bapîr)
• داپیر (dapîr)
• پیری (pîrî)
• پیرەزا (pîreza)
• پیرەمێرد (pîremêrd)
• پیرەژن (pîrejin)

Gilaki

Noun

پیر (pe:r)

1. father

Persian

Dari	پیر
Iranian Persian
Tajik	пир

Etymology 1

From Middle Persian 𐬞𐬌𐬭 (pyl /⁠pīr⁠/, “old, aged, ancient”), from Proto-Iranian *paru- (“ash-gray, pale gray, hoary”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *parHušás (“gray”); compare Sanskrit परुष (paruṣa, “spotted, rough”) and English pale.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈpiːr/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰiːɾ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰiːɾ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [pʰiːɾ]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [pʰiɾ]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰiːɹ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰiɾ]

Readings
Classical reading?	pīr
Dari reading?	pīr
Iranian reading?	pir
Tajik reading?	pir

• Rhymes: -iːr

Adjective

پیر • (pir) (comparative پیرتَر, superlative پیرتَرین)

1. old, aged (of living things; see also قدیمی (qadimi) for non-living things)

   Synonyms: (more respectful) مُسِن (mosen, “elderly”), (more formal) سال‌خورده (sâl-xorde, “senior”), کُهَن‌سال (kohan-sâl, “very old, centenarian”)

   آموزگارِ پیر ― âmuzgâr-e pir ― aged teacher

   درختِ پیر ― deraxt-e pir ― old tree

Usage notes

When used with the words مرد (mard, “man”) and زن (zan, “woman”), پیر (pir) usually precedes them and forms compounds:

• پیرمرد (pir-(e)-mard, “old man”)
• پیرزن (pir-(e)-zan, “old woman”)

which are more common than مردِ پیر (mard-e pir) and زنِ پیر (zan-e pir)

Inflection

Basic forms of پیر

bare	پیر (pir)
ezâfe	پیر (pir-e)
marked indefinite or relative definite	پیری (pir-i)

Predicative forms of پیر (pir)

	singular	plural
1st person (“I am, we are”)	پیرم (piram)	پیریم (pirim)
2nd person (“you are”)	پیری (piri)	پیرید، پیرین△ (pirid, pirin△)
3rd person (“he/she/it is, they are”)	پیر است، پیره△ (pir ast, pire△)	پیرند، پیرن△ (pirand, piran△)

^△ Colloquial.

Derived terms

• پیری (piri)
• پیرزن (pir-e-zan, pir-zan)
• پیرمرد (pir-e-mard, pir-mard)
• گنده‌پیر (gande-pir)

Noun

پیر • (pir)

1. (Sufism) Pir, Sheikh

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: pir
• → Bengali: পীর (pīr)
• → English: pir
• → Saraiki: پیر (pīr)
• → Sylheti: ꠙꠤꠞ (fir)
• → Urdu: پیر (pīr)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Herati) IPA^(key): /piˈjæɾ/

Noun

پیر • (piyar)

1. (dialectal, Herati) colloquial form of پدر (padar, “father”)

Punjabi

Etymology 1

Inherited from Prakrit 𑀧𑀬 (paya) + Middle Indo-Aryan -𑀭- (-ra-), from Sanskrit पद (pada, “foot”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /pɛːɾ/

Noun

پَیر • (pair) m (Gurmukhi spelling ਪੈਰ)

1. (anatomy) foot
2. footing, foothold
3. footprint, footstep
4. podium, base
5. basis, foundation

Declension

Declension of پیر

	singular	plural
direct	پَیر (pair)	پَیر (pair)
oblique	پَیر (pair)	پَیراں (pairāṉ)
vocative	پَیرا (pairā)	پَیرو (pairo)
ablative	پَیروں (pairoṉ)	—
locative	پَیرے (paire)	پَیرِیں (pairīṉ)
instrumental	پَیروں (pairoṉ)	–

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *pelHusós

Proto-Indo-Iranian *parHušás

Classical Persian پِیر (pīr)bor.

Classical Persian پِیر (pīr)bor.

Urdu پِیر (pīr)bor.

Punjabi پِیر (pīr)

Borrowed from Classical Persian پِیر (pīr) + Urdu پِیر (pīr). Borrowed from Classical Persian پِیر (pīr). Sense 3 is a semantic loan from Urdu پِیر (pīr, “Monday”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /piːɾ/

Noun

پِیر • (pīr) m (Gurmukhi spelling ਪੀਰ)

1. saint
2. old man
4. (uncommon) Monday – synonym of سومْوَار (somvār)

Declension

Declension of پیر

	singular	plural
direct	پِیر (pīr)	پِیر (pīr)
oblique	پِیر (pīr)	پِیراں (pīrāṉ)
vocative	پِیرا (pīrā)	پِیرو (pīro)
ablative	پِیروں (pīroṉ)	—
locative	پِیرے (pīre)	پِیرِیں (pīrīṉ)
instrumental	پِیروں (pīroṉ)	–

Further reading

• Bashir, Kanwal (2012), “پیر”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Hyattsville, MD: Dunwoody Press

Saraiki

Etymology 1

Inherited from Sanskrit पद (pada, “foot”) + Middle Indo-Aryan -𑀭- (-ra-).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /peːɾ/

Noun

پیر (per) m

1. (anatomy) foot

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Classical Persian پیر (pīr, “old”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /piːɾ/

Noun

پِیر (pīr) m

1. (Sufism) saint, mystic

Urdu

Etymology 1

Inherited from Prakrit 𑀧𑀬 (paya) + Middle Indo-Aryan -𑀭- (-ra-), from Sanskrit पद (pada, “foot”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /pɛːɾ/

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛːɾ

Noun

پَیر • (pair) m (Hindi spelling पैर)

1. foot
2. footprint

Declension

Declension of پیر

	singular	plural
direct	پَیر (pair)	پَیر (pair)
oblique	پَیر (pair)	پَیروں (pairõ)
vocative	پَیر (pair)	پَیرو (pairo)

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *pelHusós

Proto-Indo-Iranian *parHušás

Classical Persian پِیر (pīr)bor.

Urdu پِیر (pīr)

Borrowed from Classical Persian پِیر (pīr).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /piːɾ/

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːɾ

Noun

پِیر • (pīr) m (Hindi spelling पीर)

1. old man
2. (Sufism) saint, mystic
3. Monday

   Synonym: دو شنبہ (do-śanba)

Declension

Declension of پیر

	singular	plural
direct	پِیر (pīr)	پِیر (pīr)
oblique	پِیر (pīr)	پِیروں (pīrõ)
vocative	پِیر (pīr)	پِیرو (pīro)

Descendants

• → Gujarati: પીર (pīr) (semantic loan)
• → Pashto: پیر (payr) (semantic loan)
• → Punjabi: (semantic loan)

  Gurmukhi script: ਪੀਰ (pīr)

  Shahmukhi script: پِیر (pīr)

See also

Days of the week in Urdu · ہَفْتے کے دِن (hafte ke din) (layout · text)
پِیر (pīr), سومْوَار (somvār)	مَن٘گَل (maṅgal)	بُدھ (budh)	جُمِعْرات (jumi'rāt)	جُمْعَہ (jum'a)	سَنِیچَر (sanīcar), ہَفْتَہ (hafta), شَنْبَہ (śanba)	اِتْوَار (itvār)

References

• “پیر”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985), “*padara”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 438

Ushojo

Noun

پیر (per)

1. jinn, ghost