ازدواج

What it means

ازدواج (ezdevâj) means marriage, both the institution and the act of getting married. The word is borrowed from Arabic ازدواج (izdiwâj), itself built on the root ز-و-ج (z-w-j) meaning pair, couple, or spouse, with the Arabic morphological pattern افتعال (iftial) expressing the act of pairing or joining. The root is the same as زوج (zawj), meaning husband or one of a pair, a word also used in Persian. The verb ازدواج کردن (ezdevâj kardan) means to get married. A related formal phrase is پیشنهاد ازدواج (pishnahâd-e ezdevâj), marriage proposal. The colloquial alternative شوهر کردن (showhar kardan) is used specifically for a woman getting married, while زن گرفتن (zan gereftan) is used for a man, but ازدواج کردن is the neutral, universal form used by both men and women in formal and informal speech.

How to use it

• ازدواج کردی؟ (ezdevâj kardi?) “Are you married? / Did you get married?”
• ازدواجشون خوشبختانه موفق بود (ezdevâj-eshun khoshbakhtâne movaffagh bud) “Their marriage was fortunately a success.”
• پیشنهاد ازدواج داد (pishnahâd-e ezdevâj dâd) “He/she made a marriage proposal.”
• ازدواج موقت در ایران وجود داره (ezdevâj-e movaghat dar irân vojud dâre) “Temporary marriage exists in Iran.”

Cultural note

ازدواج in Iran involves a layered process. The legal and religious ceremony is called عقد (‘aghd), while the celebration is عروسی (arusi). A formal engagement period (نامزدی, nâmzadi) typically comes first. Family involvement is central: many families still expect a خواستگاری (khâstegâri), a formal visit by the prospective groom’s family to request the woman’s hand. ازدواج موقت (temporary marriage), known in religious law as صیغه (sighe), is a legally recognized but socially contentious institution in Shia jurisprudence and comes up in any serious conversation about marriage law in Iran.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab