چند

See also: جند and خند

Persian

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Persian 𐭰𐭭𐭣 (čand), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷíh₂-onts, from *kʷíh₂, neuter of *kʷís. Cognate with Baluchi چنت (cunt), Avestan 𐬗𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬧𐬙 (cuuaṇt), Sanskrit कियत् (kiyat), Latin quantus.

Pronunciation

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

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃʰän̪d̪]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃʰän̪d̪]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃʰän̪d̪]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃʰän̪d̪̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃʰæn̪d̪̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃʰän̪d̪]

• Rhymes: -and

Readings
Classical reading?	čand
Dari reading?	čand
Iranian reading?	čand
Tajik reading?	čand

Determiner

چند • (čand)

Dari	چند
Iranian Persian
Tajik	чанд

1. (in interrogatives) how many, how much

   از اینجا تا آنجا چند کیلومتر می‌شود؟ (more literary)

   az injâ tâ ânjâ čand kilometr mi-šavad?

   از اینجا تا اونجا چند کیلومتر می‌شه؟ (more colloquial)

   az injâ tâ unjâ čand kilometr mi-še?

   How many kilometers is it from here to there?

2. (in declaratives) some, a few, several

   استادانی چند آنجا نشستند. (more literary)

   ostâdân-i čand ânjâ nešastand.

   چند تا استاد اونجا نشستن. (more colloquial)

   čand tâ ostâd unjâ nešastan.

   Some professors are sitting there.

Derived terms

• چندخدایی (čandxodâyi, “polytheism”)
• چندضلعی (čandzel'i, “polygon”)
• چندم (čandom, “how many-th”, ordinal interrogative)
• چندین (čandin, “many, so many”)

Adverb

چَند • (čand)

1. how much?

   Synonym: چقدر (čeqadr)

2. how long (in time)?

   Synonym: چند وقت (čand vaqt)

Descendants

• → Bengali: চাঁদা (cãda)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: चन्द (cand), चंदा (candā)

  Urdu: چند (cand), چندہ (canda)

  • → Palula: čand
• → Ottoman Turkish: چند (çend)

Punjabi

Noun

چَنْد • (cand) m (Gurmukhi spelling ਚੰਦ)

1. (astronomy) moon

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian چَنْد (čand).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃənd̪/

Adjective

چَنْد • (čand) (Hindi spelling चंद)

1. a few, some, several

Adverb

چَنْد • (čand) (Hindi spelling चंद)

1. a few, some, several

Further reading

• “چند”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971), “چند”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.