What it means
بتون (beton) means concrete, the construction material made from cement, sand, gravel, and water. Persian borrowed this word from French béton, and it arrived in Iran during the rapid modernization and infrastructure building of the twentieth century. The full form بتون مسلح (beton-e mosallah) means reinforced concrete, where steel rods are embedded in the concrete for additional strength. This is the dominant building material in contemporary Iranian construction.
How to use it
- اسکلت ساختمون از بتونه. (eskelet-e sâkhtemon az betune.) “The building frame is made of concrete.”
- بتون رو درست مخلوط کن. (beton ro dorost makhlut kon.) “Mix the concrete properly.”
- این پل بتون مسلح داره. (in pol beton-e mosallah dâre.) “This bridge has reinforced concrete.”
- دیوارای بتونی سرده. (divârâ-ye betuni sarde.) “Concrete walls are cold.”
Cultural note
Concrete construction spread rapidly across Iran from the 1960s onward, replacing traditional materials like brick, mud, and wood in most urban buildings. Tehran in particular saw intense concrete apartment construction during the oil boom years. Critics of this shift have noted that the تهران بتونی (Tehran-e betuni, concrete Tehran) replaced older low-rise neighborhoods with dense high-rises, fundamentally changing the character of the city. The word بتون itself is a direct reminder of the French technical and engineering influence on Iranian modernization.