What it means
جلسه (jalase) is the standard Persian word for a meeting or session, borrowed directly from Arabic where it derives from the root ج-ل-س (j-l-s), meaning to sit. A جلسه can be anything from a quick team check-in to a formal government assembly: جلسه هیات وزیران (jalase-ye hey’at-e vozarâ) is a cabinet session, while جلسه دو نفره (jalase-ye do nafar) is an informal one-on-one. A near synonym is نشست (neshast), which is the purer Persian alternative and preferred in formal journalism and official reports, though in everyday speech جلسه dominates. Another synonym, دیدار (didâr), tilts toward a personal encounter rather than a structured meeting.
How to use it
- جلسه داریم ساعت سه. (jalase dârim sâ’at se.) “We have a meeting at three.”
- جلسه لغو شد. (jalase laghv shod.) “The meeting was cancelled.”
- جلسه چقدر طول کشید؟ (jalase cheghadr tul keshid?) “How long did the meeting go on?”
- تو جلسه هستم، بعداً زنگ میزنم. (tu jalase hastam, ba’dan zang mizanam.) “I’m in a meeting, I’ll call back later.”
Cultural note
In Iranian bureaucratic culture, جلسات (jalasât, the Arabic-style plural) can multiply to the point where attending them becomes an activity in itself, sometimes at the expense of actual decisions being made. There is a well-known satirical observation in Persian office humor that هر مشکلی رو میشه با یه جلسه به تاخیر انداخت, roughly “any problem can be postponed with a meeting.” At the same time, a formal جلسه in a government ministry is a serious event, and arriving late or unprepared carries real professional consequences.