What it means
حساب (hesâb) covers any kind of accounting, in the literal and figurative sense. Bank account, arithmetic, the restaurant bill, the running tally of what you owe a friend, and the more abstract calculation of weighing someone’s feelings before you act. From the Arabic root ح س ب (ḥ-s-b) “to count, to reckon.”
The word is one of the most-used Arabic loans in Persian. A child learning math is doing حساب. A grown-up paying at a café asks for the حساب. A diplomat is calculating حساب. A grandmother explaining why she pretended to like an ugly gift says حساب کسی رو نگه داشتم (hesâb-e kasi ro negah dâshtam) “I kept someone’s account,” meaning she factored their feelings.
How to use it
- حساب بانکی (hesâb-e bânki) “bank account”
- حساب لطفاً (hesâb lotfan) “the bill, please”
- حساب کردن (hesâb kardan) “to calculate, to count”
- حساب و کتاب (hesâb-o ketâb) “reckoning and books” (a fixed phrase meaning thorough accounting)
- حساب کسی رو نگه داشتن (hesâb-e kasi ro negah dâshtan) “to take someone’s feelings into account”
- روی حساب چی؟ (ru-ye hesâb-e chi?) “on what basis?” (a sharp challenge)
- حسابتو میرسم (hesâb-et-o miresam) “I’ll settle your account” (a threat)
Cultural context
حساب is woven into Iranian social life beyond money. The phrase حساب کسی رو نگه داشتن means you mentally account for someone’s status, mood, history, and adjust your behavior. It is the backbone of Iranian social calibration: in any room, everyone is keeping the حساب of everyone else.
The phrase حساب کسی رو از کسی جدا کردن (hesâb-e kasi ro az kasi jodâ kardan) “to separate one person’s account from another’s” means refusing to lump people together, a useful rhetorical move in family arguments. And on Judgment Day, روز حساب (ruz-e hesâb) “the Day of Reckoning,” God runs the final accounting. So the word that opens a checking account also names the eschaton.
حساب also pairs with the verb بودن (budan) “to be” in a uniquely Persian way. حساب میشه (hesâb mishe) “it counts” is what an Iranian says when something qualifies as the thing it claims to be: یه استکان چای حساب میشه (ye estekân chây hesâb mishe) “a glass of tea counts.” The casual shrug and the cosmic ledger live in the same five letters. Few words in Persian show this much range while staying inside everyday speech.
Related words
- حسابدار (hesâb-dâr) “accountant”
- صورتحساب (surat-hesâb) “invoice, bill”
- محاسبه (mohâsebe) “calculation” (more formal)
- کتاب (ketâb) “book” (paired in hesâb-o ketâb)
- حسابی (hesâbi) “properly, thoroughly” (adverbial use)
References
ZabanYar is a Persian app built for heritage learners, the people who can speak a little but want to read, write, and really get it. Free early access at launch.
Join the waitlist →