What it means
چاپگر (chapgar) is the standard Persian word for printer, formed from چاپ (chap, meaning print or printing) and the native Persian agentive suffix گر (gar, meaning one who does or a device that performs). The root چاپ entered Persian from Hindi chhap, meaning stamp or print (Dehkhoda traces this path); no established Turkish parallel exists for the printing sense. The suffix گر is a productive native Persian element used in many agent nouns. Together they produce a well-formed Persian compound that is widely accepted in both formal and everyday contexts. The English loanword پرینتر (printer) also circulates in spoken Persian alongside چاپگر.
How to use it
- چاپگر کاغذ تموم کرده. (chapgar kaghaz tamum karde.) “The printer has run out of paper.”
- فایل رو برای چاپگر بفرست. (file ro baraye chapgar befrest.) “Send the file to the printer.”
- چاپگر ما رنگیه. (chapgar ma rangieh.) “Our printer is a color printer.”
- جوهر چاپگر تموم شد. (jowhar chapgar tamum shod.) “The printer ink ran out.”
Cultural note
چاپگر is one of the more successful formal coinages promoted for Persian technology vocabulary, used consistently in Iranian school textbooks, government procurement documents, and official software interfaces. In contrast to some other Academy proposals that never left the classroom, چاپگر coexists comfortably with پرینتر in daily speech, with speakers often choosing between them based on how formal the context feels. The word چاپ itself has a long history in Persian, appearing in contexts from book publishing to textile printing well before the digital era.