یار

See also: يار and ياز

Ottoman Turkish

یار

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *yār (“precipice, steep bank”).

Cognates

Cognate with Bashkir яр (yar), Chuvash ҫыр (śyr), Kazakh жар (jar), Khakas чар (çar), Kyrgyz жар (jar), Southern Altai јар (ǰar), Uyghur يار (yar) and Yakut сыыр (sïïr).

Noun

یار • (yar) (definite accusative یاری (yarı), plural یارلر (yarlar))

1. cliff, scarp, precipice

   Synonyms: اوچرم (uçurum), قیا (kaya)

Derived terms

• یار ییقندیسی (yar yıkındısı, “sudden misfortune”, literally “debris of a cliff”)
• یاردن آتمق (yardan atmak, “to lead into trouble”, literally “to throw from a cliff”)
• یاردن اوچمق (yardan uçmak, “to get entangled in trouble”, literally “to fall down a cliff”)

Descendants

• Turkish: yar

Further reading

click to expand

• Barbier de Meynard, Charles (1886), “یار”, in Dictionnaire turc-français, volume II, Paris: E. Leroux, page 862
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “yar3”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 5, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 5216
• Hindoglu, Artin (1838), “یار”, in Hazine-i lûgat ou dictionnaire abrégé turc-français‎^[1], Vienna: F. Beck, page 499b
• Kélékian, Diran (1911), “یار”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[2] (in French), Constantinople: Mihran, page 1336
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “yar1”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “یار”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[3], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 2181

Persian

Pronunciation

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

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [jɑːɾ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [jɑːɾ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [jɑːɾ]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [jɔːɾ]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [jɒːɹ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [jɔɾ]

Readings
Classical reading?	yār
Dari reading?	yār
Iranian reading?	yâr
Tajik reading?	yor

• Rhymes: -ɑːr

Etymology 1

Contraction of Middle Persian (and archaic New Persian) یاور (yâvar). Akin to Manichaean Middle Persian hyʾr (/⁠hayyār⁠/, “helper, friend”).

Noun

یار • (yār / yâr) (plural یاران (yārān / yârân), Tajik spelling ёр)

1. (literary) friend, lover, companion
2. (literary) assistant, defender, helper
3. (sports) a player in a team
4. strength, power
5. pestle

Derived terms

• یار و یاور (yâr-o-yâvar)
• یارانه (yârâne)

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: yar
• → Bashkir: йәр (yər)
• → Chagatai: يار
  • Uyghur: يار (yar)
  • Uzbek: yor / ёр (yor)
• → Gujarati: યાર (yār)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: यार (yār)

  Urdu: یار (yār)

  • → English: yaar
• → Kazakh: жар (jar)
• → Middle Armenian: եար (ear)
  • Armenian: յար (yar)
• Ottoman Turkish: یار (yār)
  • Turkish: yar
  • → Laz: ჲარი (yari)
• → Punjabi: یار (yār) / ਯਾਰ (yār)
• → Marwari: यार (yār)

See also

• یاور (yâvar)

Etymology 2

As in دچار which is from Old Persian: 𐎯𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐎶 (dušiyāram, “bad year, drought, ill-crop”), from Avestan: 𐬛𐬎𐬲𐬌𐬌𐬁𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 (dužiiāⁱriia, “bad year, drought, harvest bringing bad seasons”), from ⇒ Proto-Iranian: *dušyārah (“bad year, drought”)

Noun

یار • (yār / yâr) (Tajik spelling ёр)

1. (archaic) year

References

• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892), “يار”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul, page 1525
• Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 399

Punjabi

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian یار (yār).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

یار • (yār) m (Gurmukhi spelling ਯਾਰ)

1. friend, pal

   Synonym: بیلی (belī)

2. dude, bro

Declension

Declension of یار

	singular	plural
direct	یَار (yār)	یَار (yār)
oblique	یَار (yār)	یَاراں (yārāṉ)
vocative	یَارا (yārā)	یَارو (yāro)
ablative	یَاروں (yāroṉ)	—
locative	یَارے (yāre)	یَارِیں (yārīṉ)
instrumental	یَاروں (yāroṉ)	–

Further reading

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002), “یار”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat‎ (in Punjabi), Lahore: عزیز پبلشرز [ʻazīz pabliśarz]
• “ਯਾਰ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2025

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian یَار (yār).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /jɑːɾ/
• Rhymes: -ɑːɾ

Noun

یار • (yār) m (Hindi spelling यार)

1. companion
2. (colloquial) bro, mate, dude
3. (poetic) beloved
4. (by extension) paramour, lover

Declension

Declension of یار

	singular	plural
direct	یار (yār)	یار (yār)
oblique	یار (yār)	یاروں (yārõ)
vocative	یار (yār)	یارو (yāro)

Descendants

• → English: yaar

Ushojo

Etymology

From Urdu یار (yār).

Noun

یار (yār)

1. friend, buddy, pal
2. lover