غذا

غذا is not just food. It is the center pole around which an Iranian gathering is built.

What it actually means

غذا means “food” in Persian, used for any meal, dish, or eaten substance. The word covers everything from a quick lunch to a multi-course family feast. Unlike English, which compartmentalizes (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack), Persian centers all of these on the same word: غذا. You ask “غذا چی داریم؟” (what food do we have?) at any time of day. The cultural depth is real: Iranians plan their day around shared meals, and refusing to eat someone’s غذا can read as refusing the whole social moment. The word also extends metaphorically. “غذای روح” (food of the soul) means anything spiritually nourishing.

How to say it

غذا is one of those Persian words that sits unchanged across formal and colloquial registers. Unlike خانه which becomes خونه in speech, غذا keeps its written form intact. The native Persian alternative خوراک (khorāk) still survives in formal writing and in compound dish names like خوراک مرغ (chicken stew), but in everyday speech غذا has won.

In a sentence

Cultural note

غذا is borrowed from Arabic غِذَاء (ghidhā’, “nourishment”), entering Persian after the 7th century along with much of the religious and intellectual vocabulary of the Islamic period. The native Persian word خوراک (khorāk) predates it and still appears in literary writing and in many traditional dish names: خوراک مرغ, خوراک لپه. In modern Iran, knowing the difference signals register: a TV chef says “غذا” on a cooking show, but a poet writing about hunger reaches for خوراک. The compound غذای روح (ghazā-ye rūh, “food of the soul”) shows up everywhere from religious sermons to song lyrics. Iranians treat the act of eating together as more than nourishment. Sharing غذا is what cements relationships, ends arguments, and makes someone count as family. Refusing food at an Iranian table requires a careful set of polite phrases. Saying “سیرم” (I’m full) once is rarely enough.

Related

You will see this word together with چای (the drink that opens and closes every meal) and نان (the bread without which no Iranian table is complete). For the cultural rules around eating in Iran, read our guide to 7 unwritten rules of Iranian hospitality.