What it means
کبریت (kebrit) refers to matches or a matchbox, the small sticks you strike to make a flame. The word did not originate in Persian. It entered Persian from Arabic كِبْرِيت (kibrit), which itself came from Aramaic כִּבְּרִיתָא (kibritha) meaning sulfur, the chemical that coats a match head. Over centuries the meaning shifted from the substance to the tool. A close companion word is فندک (fandak), the lighter, which does the same job without a matchstick.
How to use it
- یه جعبه کبریت داری؟ (ye ja’be kebrit dari?) “Do you have a box of matches?”
- کبریتم خیس شده روشن نمیشه. (kebrit-am khis shode, rowshan nemishe.) “My matches got wet, they won’t light.”
- با کبریت اجاق رو روشن کرد. (ba kebrit ejaq ro rowshan kard.) “He lit the stove with a match.”
- کبریت تموم شد، فندک داری؟ (kebrit tamum shod, fandak dari?) “The matches ran out, do you have a lighter?”
Cultural note
Before gas lighters became cheap and widely available in Iran, کبریت was the standard fire-starting tool in every kitchen and on every tea-house table. The word has deep roots across the region: Turkish kibrit, Arabic kibrit, and Urdu kibrit all share the same Aramaic ancestor. In older Persian poetry and proverbs, sulfur and fire appear together as symbols of quick temper or dangerous combination, a legacy of the word’s original meaning.