What it means
دانلود (dânlod) means “download” and is a direct loanword from English, brought into Persian with the internet age. It functions as both a noun and a verb stem: you can say دانلود کردن (dânlod kardan) “to download” or just دانلود (the download itself). The Academy of Persian Language proposed the native term بارگیری (bârgiri) as a substitute, meaning roughly “taking on a load,” and bârgiri does appear in formal documentation, app interfaces translated by purist developers, and official government platforms. In everyday speech, however, دانلود is overwhelmingly dominant, and most Iranians under 50 would not instinctively use بارگیری in casual conversation.
How to use it
- این فیلم رو دانلود کردم. (in film ro dânlod kardam.) “I downloaded this movie.”
- دانلود طول میکشه. (dânlod tul mikeshe.) “The download is taking a long time.”
- برنامه رو از کجا دانلود کنم؟ (barnâme ro az kojâ dânlod konam?) “Where should I download the app from?”
- سرعت دانلودم پایینه. (sor’at-e dânlodam pâyine.) “My download speed is low.”
Cultural note
دانلود carries particular cultural weight in Iran because internet filtering has shaped how Iranians experience downloading content for decades. Using a VPN (فیلترشکن, filter-shekan) to دانلود blocked applications, music, or software is a normal and widely accepted part of digital life. The download speed of Iranian internet connections has historically been a source of frustration, making سرعت دانلود (dânlod speed) a very common complaint in everyday conversation. The word is also used metaphorically in jokes, such as referring to memorizing something as “دانلود کردن توی مغز” (downloading into the brain).