What it means
جاری (jâri) describes two women who have married brothers. If Maryam is married to Ali and Sara is married to Ali’s brother Reza, then Maryam and Sara are each other’s jâri. The word comes from Arabic جَارٍ (jârin), meaning running or flowing alongside, with the kinship sense developing in Persian from the image of two lives moving in parallel. There is no single English word for this relationship: “co-sisters-in-law” is sometimes used as a workaround. A related but distinct term is خواهرشوهر (khâhar-shohar), meaning the husband’s sister, who is a different kind of sister-in-law.
How to use it
- مریم و سارا جاری همدیگهان. (maryam o sârâ jâri-ye hamdigeran.) “Maryam and Sara are each other’s jâri.”
- جاریم فردا میاد خونه. (jârim fardâ miâd khune.) “My jâri is coming to the house tomorrow.”
- ما از وقتی که شوهرامون برادرن جاری شدیم. (mâ az vaghti ke shoharâmun barâdaran jâri shodim.) “We became jâri when our husbands turned out to be brothers.”
- جاریهام خیلی باهامن. (jâri-hâm kheyli bâhamam.) “My jâris are very close to me.”
Cultural note
In Iranian family life the jâri bond can be one of the more consequential relationships a married woman has outside her birth family. Jâris often live near each other, raise children together, and become a primary source of emotional support. However, the relationship is also historically associated with rivalry and tension, particularly in households where resources or the mother-in-law’s attention were shared, which is why the related word هوو (havu) exists for the more charged context of polygamous co-wives.