What it means
کتابفروشی (ketâb-forushi) means a bookshop or bookstore. It is a compound noun built from two parts: کتاب (ketâb, book), which comes from Arabic كتاب, and فروشی (forushi, selling or place of sale), which derives from the pure Persian verb فروختن (forukhtan, to sell). This pattern of combining an Arabic noun with a Persian commercial suffix is very common in Persian and produces many shop-type words. The person who runs the shop is a کتابفروش (ketâb-forush, bookseller).
How to use it
- یه کتابفروشی خوب سر خیابون هست. (ye ketâb-forushi khub sare khiyâbun hast.) “There is a good bookshop on the main street.”
- این کتاب رو از کدوم کتابفروشی گرفتی؟ (in ketâb ro az kodum ketâb-forushi gerefti?) “Which bookshop did you get this book from?”
- کتابفروشی انقلاب یکی از معروفترینهاست. (ketâb-forushi-ye enghelâb yeki az ma’ruftarin-hâst.) “Enghelab Bookshop is one of the most famous.”
- میشه بری کتابفروشی برام یه دیکشنری بخری؟ (mishe beri ketâb-forushi baram ye dikshenâri bakhri?) “Could you go to the bookshop and buy me a dictionary?”
Cultural note
Tehran’s Enghelab Street (Khiyâbân-e Enghelâb) is lined with dozens of bookshops and is considered the symbolic centre of Iranian book culture. The street attracts students, academics, and readers of all ages and has been a focal point for intellectual life since before the 1979 revolution. Book fairs, especially the Tehran International Book Fair held annually in May, are major cultural events that draw millions of visitors. Iranians have a strong tradition of gifting books for Nowruz and other occasions.