درود

What it means

درود (dorud) means “hello, greetings, blessings.” Pure Persian, A2 vocabulary. The Pure Persian alternative to the Arabic-origin سلام (salâm), preferred by speakers and writers committed to Persian linguistic heritage. Also “praise, salute” in literary contexts.

How to use it

• درود بر شما (dorud bar shomâ) “greetings upon you, hello to you”
• درود! (dorud!) “Hello!”
• درود بر روان فردوسی (dorud bar ravân-e Ferdowsi) “blessings upon the soul of Ferdowsi”

Common pairings

• بدرود (bedrud) “farewell” (Pure Persian alt for خداحافظ)
• سلام (salâm) “hello” (Arabic, dominant in spoken Persian)
• درودگو (dorudgu) “well-wisher, one who greets”
• درود و سپاس (dorud-o-sepâs) “greetings and thanks”

Pure Persian alternative

From Middle Persian drōd (“greeting, well-being”), of Indo-European origin, same root as Avestan drvatāt- (“health, soundness”). The word fell out of common spoken use after the Islamic conquest, when سلام (salâm) became the standard greeting. The 20th-century Pure Persian Movement, especially in Zoroastrian and nationalist circles, revived درود alongside its companion بدرود (bedrud, “farewell”). Today, درود is a deliberate cultural statement, common in literary, scholarly, and Zoroastrian contexts; rare in everyday Tehrani speech.

Pair

This Pure Persian greeting pairs with سلام (salâm), the dominant Arabic-origin greeting. درود is preferred in literary, scholarly, and Zoroastrian contexts.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab
• Wiktionary: درود