همسر

What it means

همسر (hamsar) means “spouse”, used for husband or wife alike. Pure Persian compound and the polite, formal default. A2 vocabulary, indispensable in official documents and respectful conversation.

How to use it

• همسر من (hamsar-e man) “my spouse”
• این همسر آقای رضایی است (in hamsar-e âqâ-ye Rezâ’i ast) “This is Mr. Rezaei’s wife”
• با همسرم آمدم (bâ hamsaram âmadam) “I came with my spouse”

Common pairings

• همسران (hamsarân) “spouses, partners”
• همسر سابق (hamsar-e sâbeq) “former spouse, ex”
• همسرگزینی (hamsar-gozini) “spouse selection”
• هم‌خانه (ham-khâne) “housemate” (parallel formation)

Etymology

Built from هم (ham, “with, same, fellow”) + سر (sar, “head”). Literally “fellow head” or “the one whose head shares yours.” The hyphen-style prefix هم is wildly productive in Persian: همکار (hamkâr, “colleague”), همسایه (hamsâye, “neighbor”), هم‌کلاسی (ham-kelâsi, “classmate”). همسر is the modern dignified choice over older زن (zan, “wife”) and شوهر (showhar, “husband”).

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab