فروردین (farvardin) opens the Persian year, March 21 to April 20, named for the angelic spirits of the dead in pre-Islamic Iran.
What it actually means
فروردین is the first month of the Iranian solar calendar (تقویم شمسی, taqvim-e shamsi), running from the spring equinox on March 21 to April 20. The month opens with نوروز (nowruz), the Persian New Year, the largest secular holiday in the Iranian calendar. Schools close for the first thirteen days, families travel, and the country slows down. When an Iranian says فروردین, the connotation is spring, fresh starts, new clothes, new shoes, family visits. The word is purely Persian and predates the Arab conquest by more than a thousand years.
How to say it
Formal
farvardin
“first month, March-April”
فروردین
Colloquial (Tehrani)
farvardin
same form across registers
فروردین
How to use it
- فروردین به ایران میرم. · farvardin be irân miram. · I’m going to Iran in Farvardin.
- اول فروردین عید نوروزه. · avval-e farvardin eyd-e nowruz-e. · The first of Farvardin is Nowruz.
- پانزده فروردین تولدمه. · pânzdah-e farvardin tavallodam-e. · My birthday is the 15th of Farvardin.
Common pairings
- اول فروردین (avval-e farvardin) “the first of Farvardin” (Nowruz)
- سیزده فروردین (sizdah-e farvardin) “the 13th of Farvardin” (Sizdah Bedar)
- فروردین ماه (farvardin-mâh) “the month of Farvardin”
- تعطیلات فروردین (ta’tilât-e farvardin) “Farvardin holidays”
Where it comes from
فروردین is named for Fravashi (Avestan فرورتی), the Zoroastrian guardian spirits of the souls of the dead and of the unborn. In Zoroastrian belief, the Fravashi are angelic protectors who descend to earth at the year’s turning. Each month of the Persian calendar is named for a Yazata, a divine being. Farvardin honors the protective spirits, which is why the month opens with Nowruz (a celebration of life and renewal) and includes ceremonies for ancestors. The pre-Islamic root survived the Arab conquest because Iranians never gave up the solar calendar at home, even when the Islamic lunar calendar dominated official records.
Related
The next month: اردیبهشت (ordibehesht). The New Year that opens this month: نوروز (nowruz). For the full Persian calendar, see the Persian time vocabulary guide.
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