What it means
اره (arre) is the Persian word for a saw, the toothed cutting tool used for slicing through wood, metal, or bone. The word is genuinely old: it descends from Proto-Indo-European *sers- meaning to cut off, and is distantly cognate with Latin serra, the Latin word for saw that gave English words like serrated. Iranian dialects preserve the same root: Mazanderani هره (hare) and Baluchi هرگ (harrag) are related forms. In Persian, اره refers to both a hand saw and, in compound form, to power saws. A closely related term is اره برقی (arre-ye barqi), an electric saw, and اره مویی (arre-ye muyi), a jigsaw or fretsaw.
How to use it
- برای بریدن این تخته باید از اره استفاده کنی. (barâye boridan-e in takhte bâyad az arre estefâde koni.) “To cut this plank you need to use a saw.”
- اره دستی برای این کار کافیه. (arre-ye dasti barâye in kâr kâfiye.) “A hand saw is enough for this job.”
- دندونههای اره کند شده، باید تیزش کنی. (dandune-hâye arre kond shode, bâyad tizash koni.) “The teeth of the saw have gone dull, you need to sharpen it.”
- با اره برقی سریعتر میبری. (bâ arre-ye barqi sari’tar mibori.) “You cut faster with an electric saw.”
Cultural note
Traditional Iranian woodworking, particularly in regions like Isfahan and the Caspian north where woodcraft has long historical roots, relies on the hand saw as a foundational tool. The word اره also appears in Persian literature and proverbs in metaphorical uses, often evoking the image of something being worn down slowly. In rural areas, a two-person crosscut saw used for felling trees was once called اره دو نفره (arre-ye do-nafare), reflecting communal labor practices in timber work.