What it means
بهره (bahre) is a pure Persian word, inherited from Middle Persian (Pahlavi) “bahrag”, meaning a share, portion, or benefit. In financial contexts today it most commonly refers to interest, as in the interest paid on a bank loan or earned on a deposit. The word also appears in literary Persian with the broader sense of benefit or gain, as in بهره بردن (bahre bordan), meaning to benefit from something. It is related in spirit to سود (sud), which is the more informal word for profit, though bahre carries a more formal register.
How to use it
- بهره وام بانکی خیلی بالاست. (Bahre-ye vam-e banki kheyli balast.) “The interest rate on the bank loan is very high.”
- حساب پسانداز بهره میده. (Hesab-e pas-andaz bahre mide.) “A savings account pays interest.”
- نرخ بهره امسال کاهش پیدا کرد. (Nerkh-e bahre emsal kahesh peyda kard.) “The interest rate decreased this year.”
- از این فرصت بهره بردیم. (Az in forsat bahre bordim.) “We benefited from this opportunity.”
Cultural note
In Iran’s Islamic banking framework, conventional interest is technically classified as ربا (reba), meaning usury, which is prohibited under Islamic law. Banks use the term بهره (bahre) carefully, often reframing interest-bearing transactions as profit-sharing or fee arrangements to comply with religious guidelines. In everyday speech, however, most Iranians use bahre straightforwardly to mean interest without religious connotation.