What it means
احتیاط (ehtiyât) means caution, care, or prudence. The word is borrowed from Arabic اِحْتِيَاط (ihtiyât), a verbal noun from the root ح-و-ط, which relates to surrounding or guarding something carefully. In Persian it functions as a noun: احتیاط کن (ehtiyât kon) means be careful, and احتیاط لازم است (ehtiyât lâzem ast) means caution is required. A close synonym is مراقبت (morâqebat), which leans more toward watchful care for a person, while احتیاط tends toward prudence in action or movement. The adjective form is محتاط (mohtât), meaning cautious.
How to use it
- احتیاط کن، کف خیسه. (ehtiyât kon, kaf khise.) “Be careful, the floor is wet.”
- سر این پیچ احتیاط لازمه. (sar-e in pich ehtiyât lâzeme.) “At this bend, caution is needed.”
- اون آدم خیلی محتاطه. (oon âdam kheyli mohtâte.) “That person is very cautious.”
- با احتیاط رانندگی کن. (bâ ehtiyât rânandegi kon.) “Drive with caution.”
Cultural note
احتیاط appears on safety signs in construction zones, on medicine packaging, and on steep mountain roads across Iran. The expression احتیاط کن is one of the most common parting phrases a Persian parent says to a child leaving the house, carrying emotional weight beyond a literal warning. In Persian driving culture, where traffic rules are loosely followed, احتیاط takes on a pragmatic urgency: defensive driving is genuinely taught as an احتیاطی (ehtiyâti, precautionary) mindset rather than a legal obligation.