What it means
عطسه (atse) is the everyday Persian word for a “sneeze,” the sudden involuntary burst of air through your nose and mouth. The word is an Arabic loanword, from the root ع ط س meaning “to sneeze,” and it is fully naturalized in Persian. To talk about the action of sneezing, Persian pairs it with the verb کردن, giving عطسه کردن (atse kardan), “to sneeze.” A close everyday companion is سرفه (sorfe), “a cough,” which sits in the same family of body reflexes.
How to use it
- یه عطسه کردم. (ye atse kardam.) “I sneezed once.”
- چرا اینقدر عطسه میکنی؟ (cherā inghadr atse mikoni?) “Why are you sneezing so much?”
- عطسهام گرفته، فکر کنم سرما خوردم. (atse-am gerefte, fekr konam sarmā khordam.) “I keep sneezing, I think I caught a cold.”
- وقتی یکی عطسه میکنه، میگیم عافیت باشه. (vaghti yeki atse mikone, migim āfiyat bāshe.) “When someone sneezes, we say bless you.”
Cultural note
In Iran, when someone sneezes the common response is عافیت باشه (āfiyat bāshe), roughly “may you be healthy,” similar to “bless you.” There is also an old folk belief tied to a single sneeze: people say صبر آمد (sabr āmad), “patience has come,” and pause for a moment before doing what they were about to do. Many people still jokingly hold off after sneezing, though younger speakers often treat it as a saying rather than a rule.