What it means
قیمت (gheymat) comes from Arabic قِيمَة (qima), derived from the root ق-و-م (q-w-m), relating to worth and standing. In Persian it is the default, neutral word for price, covering everything from a market stall to a formal contract. It also carries the secondary meaning of value or worth in a figurative sense, as in the price of freedom or the worth of a relationship. A close synonym is نرخ (nerkh), which tends to appear in official or exchange-rate contexts (نرخ ارز, nerkh-e arz, “exchange rate”), while قیمت is the natural choice in everyday shopping speech. The plural is قیمتها (gheymat-hā).
How to use it
- قیمتش چقدره؟ (gheymatesh cheghadre?) “How much does it cost?”
- قیمتها خیلی بالا رفته. (gheymat-hā kheyli bālā rafte.) “Prices have gone up a lot.”
- قیمت مناسبیه. (gheymat-e monāsebie.) “It is a reasonable price.”
- قیمت این محصول رو پایین بیار. (gheymat-e in mahsul ro pāyin biār.) “Lower the price of this product.”
Cultural note
Bargaining over قیمت is a normal and expected part of shopping in traditional Iranian bazaars, where the first price given is rarely the final price. Asking “قیمتش رو کم کن” (lower the price) is not considered rude but is a standard part of the transaction. In recent years, Iran’s high inflation rate has made قیمت a politically charged word: news about rising قیمتها is among the most-read content in Iranian media, and the government regularly intervenes to set maximum prices (قیمت مصوب, gheymat-e mosavvab) on staple goods such as bread, eggs, and fuel.