What it means
دادگاه (dâdgâh) means “court” or “court of law.” It is a native Persian compound: داد (dâd) means “justice” or “right,” rooted in Old Persian dâta, the same word that appears in ancient inscriptions and gave rise to the verb دادن (dâdan, “to give”). گاه (gâh) means “place” or “time,” a suffix found in many Persian place-words such as آرامگاه (âramgâh, “resting place”) and بارگاه (bârgâh, “royal court”). Together, dâdgâh is literally “the place of justice.” It refers to a court building and the judicial proceedings within it.
How to use it
- فردا باید به دادگاه بروم. (fardâ bâyad be dâdgâh beravam.) “Tomorrow I have to go to court.”
- دادگاه حکم صادر کرد. (dâdgâh hokm sâder kard.) “The court issued a ruling.”
- پروندهاش در دادگاه است. (parvande-ash dar dâdgâh ast.) “His case is in court.”
- دادگاه عالی تجدیدنظر کرد. (dâdgâh-e âli tajdid nazar kard.) “The supreme court reviewed the case.”
Cultural note
دادگاه عالی (dâdgâh-e âli) is the term for a high or supreme court in Persian. In Iran’s judicial system, the دادگاه انقلاب (dâdgâh-e enqelâb), the Revolutionary Court, handles cases involving national security and political offenses and is frequently mentioned in international news coverage. The native Persian construction of this word reflects an older legal vocabulary that predates the Arabic influence on Persian civic terminology.