یکم

Persian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *óywos

Proto-Indo-Iranian *Háywas

Proto-Iranian *Háywah

Middle Persian ʾy

Middle Persian ʾywk'

Persian یک (yak / yek)

Middle Persian [script needed] (-om)

Persian ـم (-um / -om)

Persian یکم

From یک (yak / yek, “one”) + ـم (-um / -om, “-st, -nd, -rd, -th (ordinal number suffix)”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ja.ˈkum/

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [jä.kʰʊ́m]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [jä.kʰʊ́m]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [jä.kʰúm]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [je.kʰóm]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [jä.kʰúm]

Rhymes: -um

Readings
Classical reading^?	yakum
Dari reading^?	yakum
Iranian reading^?	yekom
Tajik reading^?	yakum

Adjective

یکم • (yakum / yekom) (Tajik spelling якум)

(colloquial or in compounds) first
Synonym: اول (awwal / avval)

بیست و یکم ― bist o yekom ― twenty-first

دوره یکم ― dawra-e yekom ― first period

Usage notes

اول (awwal / avval) is the standard word for "first" in modern Persian. Compound numbers, however, are always formed with یکم (yakum / yekom). یکم (yakum / yekom) is also used colloquially instead of اول (awwal / avval) in many dialects.

Urdu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *óywos

Proto-Indo-Iranian *Háywas

Proto-Iranian *Háywah

Middle Persian ʾy

Middle Persian ʾywk'

Classical Persian یک (yak / yek)

Middle Persian [script needed] (-om)

Classical Persian ـم (-um / -om)

Classical Persian یکم (yakum)bor.

Urdu یکم

Borrowed from Classical Persian یکم (yakum).

Pronunciation

(Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /jə.kʊm/
Rhymes: -ʊm

Noun

یَکُم • (yakum) m (indeclinable, Hindi spelling यकुम)

first day of the month

Adjective

یکم • (yakam)

first
Synonyms: پہلا (pahlā), اول (avval), نخست (nuxust)

References

“یکم”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
“یکم”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.