زیر

See also: زير and ریز

Persian

Etymology

From Middle Persian [script needed] (hcdl /⁠azēr⁠/, “underneath”), from Old Persian *hacā-adari, equivalent to 𐏃𐎨𐎠 (h-c-a /⁠hacā⁠/, “from”, from Proto-Iranian *háčaH, from Proto-Indo-European *sékʷ-eh₂) + *adari (“under”, from Proto-Iranian *Hadárah, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hadʰáras, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥dʰ-ér-o-s, distantly related to English under).

The prepositional usage is a contraction of older در زیرِ (dar zir-e, literally “in the underneath of”) or به زیرِ (be zir-e, literally “at the underneath of”); the full forms are dated in Iran but more common in the eastern lands.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [zeːɾ]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [zeːɾ]

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

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ziːɹ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [zeɾ]

Readings
Classical reading?	zēr
Dari reading?	zēr
Iranian reading?	zir
Tajik reading?	zer

Noun

زیر • (zir) (plural زیرها (zir-hâ))

1. lower part; bottom
2. something underneath
3. kasra (vowel diacritic placed under the letter)

   Synonym: کسره (kasre)

4. (music) high-pitched tune; soprano or treble
   • 1177, Farīd ud-Dīn ʿAṭṭār, “The tale of the nightingale”, in منطق‌الطیر [The Conference of the Birds]‎^[1]:

     زاری اندر نی ز گفتار منست
     زیر چنگ از نالهٔ زار من است

     rāzē andar nay zi guftār-i man ast
     zēr-i čang az nāla-yi zār-i man ast

     The mystery in the flute is from my speech;
     The treble of the harp is from my forlorn cries.

     (Classical romanization)

Derived terms

• زیر بغل (zir-e bağal, “armpit”)

 

Preposition

زیر • (zir-e)

1. (with ezâfe) under; underneath; beneath

   Synonym: تحت (taht-e)

   زیر میز ― zir-e miz ― under the table

   زیر نظر ستاد ― zir-e nazar-e setâd ― under the oversight of EIKO

   • 1967, Samad Behrangi, ماهی سیاه کوچولو [The Little Black Fish]:

     خانه ی ماهی کوچولو و مادرش پشت سنگ سیاهی بود؛ زیر سقفی از خزه.

     xâne-ye mâhi-ye kučulu o mâdar-eš pošt-e sang-e siyâhi bud; zir-e saqfi az xaze.

     The house of the little fish and his mother was behind a black stone, under a roof of moss.

Adjective

زیر • (zir)

1. under; below

   این کلمه می‌تواند به موارد زیر اشاره داشته باشد.

   in kalame mi-tavânad be mavâred-e zir ešâre dâšte bâšad.

   This word may refer to the topics below.

2. high-pitched

   Synonym: نازک (nâzok)

Derived terms

• زیر گرفتن (zir gereftan, “to run over”, literally “to take under”)
• لباس زیر (lebâs-e zir, “underwear”)

 

Prefix

زیر • (zir-)

1. sub-

Derived terms

• زیرزمین (zirzamin, “basement”)
• زیرساخت (zirsâxt, “infrastructure”)
• زیرنویس (zirnevis, “subtitle”)

 

Descendants

• → Arabic: زِير (zīr)
• → Azerbaijani: zil
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: ज़ेर (zer)

  Urdu: زیر (zer)

• →? Ottoman Turkish: زل (zil), زیل (zil)
  • Turkish: zil
  • → Albanian: zile
  • → Cypriot Greek: ζίλιν (zílin)
  • → English: zill
  • → Georgian: ზილი (zili)
  • → Middle Armenian: զիլ (zil)
    • Armenian: զիլ (zil)
  • → Serbo-Croatian: zȉl / зи̏л
• → Pashto: زير (zir)

References

• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1973) “զիլ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume II, Yerevan: University Press, page 95a
• Horn, Paul (1893) Grundriss der neupersischen Etymologie (in German), Strasbourg: K.J. Trübner, § 680, pages 258—259
• Hübschmann, Heinrich (1895) Persische Studien [Persian Studies] (in German), Strasbourg: K.J. Trübner, page 71
• Hübschmann, Heinrich (1897) Armenische Grammatik. 1. Theil: Armenische Etymologie (in German), Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, page 265
• Rastorgujeva, V. S., Edelʹman, D. I. (2000) Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume 1, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, page 82