What it means
حکم اعدام (hokm-e edâm) means death sentence or capital sentence. Both components are Arabic loanwords: حکم (hokm) comes from the root ح-ك-م (h-k-m, to rule or judge), meaning ruling, verdict, or order, and اعدام (edâm) comes from ع-د-م (a-d-m, non-existence, to annihilate), meaning execution or the act of putting to death. Together they form the standard phrase used in court documents, journalism, and public discourse to refer to a court-issued death sentence. The related word اعدام alone means execution or capital punishment, while حکم alone means a ruling or court order of any kind. A close synonym is حکم مرگ (hokm-e marg), meaning death order, though حکم اعدام is the formal legal term.
How to use it
- دادگاه حکم اعدام صادر کرد. (Dâdgâh hokm-e edâm sâder kard.) “The court issued a death sentence.”
- حکم اعدام او در مرحله تجدیدنظره. (Hokm-e edâm-e u dar marhaleh-ye tajdid-nazar-e.) “His death sentence is in the appeals stage.”
- حکم اعدام اجرا شد. (Hokm-e edâm ejrâ shod.) “The death sentence was carried out.”
- خانوادهاش خواهان لغو حکم اعدامه. (Khânevâde-ash khâhân-e laqv-e hokm-e edâm-e.) “His family is demanding the death sentence be overturned.”
Cultural note
According to Amnesty International, Iran is among the countries with the highest annual numbers of executions, and حکم اعدام appears frequently in Iranian news. The Iranian legal system allows capital punishment for a range of offences including murder, drug trafficking, and certain political charges. Families of murder victims hold the legal right, under the principle of قصاص (qesâs, retributive justice), to pardon the perpetrator and thus halt the execution, which sometimes happens publicly and dramatically in the final moments before carrying out the sentence. International human rights organisations regularly call for moratoriums on the practice.