What it means
هیدروژن (hidrozhen) means hydrogen, the lightest chemical element. The word came into Persian from French hydrogène, which itself was coined from Greek roots meaning water-producing. In scientific Persian it is always written and said as hidrozhen. A related term you will encounter is اکسیژن (oksizhen), meaning oxygen, which pairs with hydrogen in many reactions.
How to use it
- هیدروژن سبکترین عنصر جدول تناوبی است. (hidrozhen sabok-tarin onsor-e jadval-e tanavob-i ast.) “Hydrogen is the lightest element in the periodic table.”
- ستارهها بیشتر از هیدروژن ساخته شدهاند. (setare-ha bishtar az hidrozhen sakhte shode-and.) “Stars are mostly made of hydrogen.”
- ما داریم روی سوخت هیدروژنی کار میکنیم. (ma darim ru-ye sukhte hidrozhen-i kar mi-konim.) “We are working on hydrogen fuel.”
- هیدروژن با اکسیژن ترکیب میشه و آب میسازه. (hidrozhen ba oksizhen tarkib mi-she o ab mi-saze.) “Hydrogen combines with oxygen and makes water.”
Cultural note
Modern scientific vocabulary in Persian was largely shaped through French-mediated borrowing in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when Iran’s educational reformers looked to French-language science textbooks as their primary model. Terms like hidrozhen entered Persian through translated chemistry manuals rather than from English. Today the word appears unchanged in Iranian school curricula and university courses, and Iranian researchers publishing in Farsi use this same French-origin spelling.