What it means
چندبرابر (chand-barâbar) means “several times more,” “many times over,” or “manifold.” It is a pure Persian compound: چند (chand, several, how many) combined with برابر (barâbar, equal, as much as), which is itself a native Persian word formed by reduplication of بر (bar, front, face) with the connective â, literally meaning “face to face” and hence “equal” or “equivalent.” Together they express multiplication by an indefinite but substantial factor, somewhere between “a few times” and “many times.” Unlike دوچندان (do-chandân, specifically double) or سهچندان (se-chandân, threefold), chand-barâbar deliberately leaves the exact multiple vague, making it useful when the speaker wants to convey scale without a precise number.
How to use it
- هزینهها چندبرابر شده. (hazine-hâ chand-barâbar shode.) “Costs have multiplied several times over.”
- کارایی این ماشین چندبرابر قبلیه. (kârâyi-ye in mâshin chand-barâbar-e qabli-ye.) “This machine’s efficiency is several times that of the previous one.”
- سودش چندبرابر سرمایهاش بود. (sud-ash chand-barâbar-e sarmâye-ash bud.) “His profit was several times his investment.”
- با این روش، سرعت چندبرابر میشه. (bâ in ravesh, sor’at chand-barâbar mi-she.) “With this method, the speed will multiply several times.”
Cultural note
Chand-barâbar is a staple of economic and political discourse in Iran, appearing constantly in news reports about inflation, productivity, and investment returns. The word barâbar on its own means “equal” and is also used in mathematical equations (دو برابر سه نیست, do barâbar-e se nist, “two is not equal to three”), so chand-barâbar literally pictures a quantity lined up as equals several times over. For even stronger hyperbole, speakers may say صدبرابر (sad-barâbar, a hundred times more) or هزاربرابر (hezâr-barâbar, a thousand times more).