How Do You Say 'yard' In Persian? (Hayât)

حیاط

hayât

yard, courtyard

nouna2

Quick Reference

PronunciationHAYAT

Meaningyard, courtyard

Levela2

حیاط is not a backyard. In the Iranian imagination it is the inside-outside, the open heart of the house, with a pool and a pomegranate tree and a story.

What it means

حیاط (hayât) means “courtyard” or “yard,” specifically the open-air space enclosed by the rooms of a house. The word is an Arabic loanword (Arabic حائط, “wall, enclosure”) that settled into Persian centuries ago and never left. In modern usage حیاط can mean any yard: schoolyard (حیاط مدرسه, hayât-e madrese), the small concrete strip behind an apartment, the green space in a villa. Historically though, حیاط means the central courtyard of a traditional Iranian house: a rectangle of sky, with a pool (حوض, howz) in the middle, fruit trees around the edges, and rooms opening onto it on all sides.

How to use it

حیاط مدرسه (hayât-e madrese) “schoolyard”
توی حیاط (tu-ye hayât) “in the yard”
حیاط خلوت (hayât-e khalvat) “private inner courtyard”
حیاط بزرگ (hayât-e bozorg) “big yard”

In a sentence

بچه‌ها توی حیاط بازی می‌کنن. · bachehâ tu-ye hayât bâzi mikonan. · The kids are playing in the yard.
حیاط خانه‌ی پدربزرگم درخت انار داشت. · hayât-e khâne-ye pedar-bozorgam derakht-e anâr dâsht. · My grandfather’s courtyard had a pomegranate tree.
گربه از حیاط همسایه اومد. · gorbe az hayât-e hamsâye umad. · The cat came from the neighbor’s yard.

Cultural note

The traditional Iranian house was built around the حیاط, not facing the street. A central pool reflected the sky, a pomegranate or fig tree gave fruit and shade, and the family lived in the rooms that opened onto the courtyard: the تالار (tâlâr, summer-room) on the cool north side, smaller rooms on the warmer south. The حیاط was a climate machine and a social space at once. The pool (حوض, howz) cooled the air through evaporation, the high walls kept the courtyard private from the street, and the trees turned the small rectangle of sky into something walkable. Modern Tehran apartments have lost this: the open courtyard collapsed into a balcony, then a small concrete utility yard, and now often nothing at all. Iranian nostalgia for the حیاط runs through poetry, film, and architecture writing. When older Iranians describe خانه‌ی پدری (the father’s house), the courtyard is usually the first detail. The phrase حیاط خلوت (hayât-e khalvat, “private inner courtyard”) still carries the weight of that lost domestic geometry, and you will see it in real-estate ads as a selling point.

References

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Cultural Context

The traditional Iranian house was built around the حیاط, not facing the street. A central pool reflected the sky, a pomegranate or fig tree gave fruit and shade, and the family lived in the rooms that opened onto the courtyard: the تالار (tâlâr, summer-room) on the cool north side, smaller rooms on the warmer south. The حیاط was a climate machine and a social space at once. The pool (حوض, howz) cooled the air through evaporation, the high walls kept the courtyard private from the street, and the trees turned the small rectangle of sky into something walkable. Modern Tehran apartments have lost this: the open courtyard collapsed into a balcony, then a small concrete utility yard, and now often nothing at all. Iranian nostalgia for the حیاط runs through poetry, film, and architecture writing. When older Iranians describe خانه‌ی پدری (the father's house), the courtyard is usually the first detail. The phrase حیاط خلوت (hayât-e khalvat, "private inner courtyard") still carries the weight of that lost domestic geometry, and you will see it in real-estate ads as a selling point.

Connected Words

حیاط

hayât