What it means
ادب (adab) means proper conduct, refined manners, etiquette. It’s a foundational Iranian virtue covering everything from how you greet elders to how you sit at dinner. The opposite of crude or boorish behavior.
How to use it
- با ادب باش (bâ adab bâsh) “Be polite/well-mannered”
- این بچه خیلی با ادبه (in bachche kheyli bâ adab-e) “This child is very well-mannered”
- بیادبی نکن (bi-adabi nakon) “Don’t be rude”
Cultural depth
Adab is taught from infancy. A با ادب (bâ adab) child stands when an elder enters, doesn’t interrupt, eats with their right hand, and says سلام first. A بیادب (bi-adab) child shames the family. At family dinners, you don’t reach across someone, you don’t start eating before the eldest, you don’t leave the table without a quiet ببخشید (bebakhshid).
Register notes
Adab works in every register. Formal speech praises someone as با ادب و فرهنگ (bâ adab-o farhang) “well-mannered and cultured.” Casual speech uses بیادب as a sharp scolding to children. The word also extends to literary refinement, ادبیات (adabiyât) means “literature.”
Etymology
From the Arabic root أ-د-ب (ʾ-d-b), meaning discipline, training, refinement. In pre-Islamic Arabic, ʾadab referred to good habits learned from one’s tribe or upbringing. Persian adopted the word and broadened it to cover both etiquette and literary cultivation, which is why ادبیات (literature) shares the root.
References
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