What it means
دیوار (divâr) means wall, whether the outer wall of a building, the wall between two rooms, or a garden boundary wall. It is a native Persian word inherited from Middle Persian dēwār, which itself descends from older Iranian roots. The word has no Arabic or Turkic influence. A closely related concept is دیوار حائل (divâr-e hâyel), a partition or dividing wall, but in everyday speech دیوار covers all of these uses.
How to use it
- دیوار خونه رنگ شده. (divâr-e khune rang shode.) “The wall of the house has been painted.”
- میخ رو به دیوار زدم. (mikh ro be divâr zadam.) “I hammered the nail into the wall.”
- دیوار این اتاق خیلی نازکه. (divâr-e in otâq kheyli nâzoke.) “The wall of this room is very thin.”
- صدا از پشت دیوار میاد. (sedâ az posht-e divâr miyâd.) “The sound is coming from behind the wall.”
Cultural note
In traditional Iranian architecture, the outer wall of a house served as a strict boundary between public street life and private family space. Houses in cities like Kashan and Isfahan were built with high, plain exterior walls that revealed nothing of the courtyard gardens inside. The phrase پشت دیوار (posht-e divâr, behind the wall) is also used figuratively to describe secrecy or hidden domestic life.