What it means
عیدی (eydi) is the cash gift given at the time of عید (eyd), most commonly Nowruz, the Persian New Year. The root word عید is a borrowing from Arabic, where it means a recurring feast or festival. The Persian suffix ی (-i) was added to create a noun meaning the gift of the holiday. In the workplace, عیدی refers to the mandatory year-end cash bonus that Iranian labour law requires all employers to pay to their employees before Nowruz. Outside of employment, the word also describes the small gifts of cash that elders give to children and younger relatives at the new year, a beloved custom across Iranian households.
How to use it
- عیدیم رو گرفتم. (eydim ro gereftam.) “I got my New Year bonus.”
- عیدی بچهها رو دادی؟ (eydi-ye bachehâ ro dâdi?) “Did you give the kids their Nowruz money?”
- کارفرما عیدی نداد. (kârfarmâ eydi nadâd.) “The employer did not pay the bonus.”
- عیدی امسال چقدر شد؟ (eydi-ye emsal cheghadr shod?) “How much was the bonus this year?”
Cultural note
Iranian labour law sets the minimum عیدی each year as a multiple of the monthly minimum wage, typically the equivalent of sixty days of minimum-wage pay, and employers who fail to pay it face legal consequences. The announcement of each year’s عیدی ceiling by the Ministry of Labour is followed closely in the news and often discussed with frustration when the amount does not keep pace with inflation. Beyond the workplace, عیدی is one of the most emotionally loaded customs of Nowruz: receiving crisp new banknotes tucked inside a card from grandparents is a memory almost every Iranian carries. Refusing to give عیدی to a child who visits on New Year is considered bad manners.