خبردار

What it means

خبردار (khabardâr) has two related senses. In everyday speech it means aware, informed, or having knowledge of something. The compound verb خبردار شدن (khabardâr shodan) means to find out, to become aware, or to learn of something. خبردار بودن (khabardâr budan) means to already know or be in the loop. In a second, formal-to-military register, خبردار is the command meaning attention, the order given to soldiers to stand at attention. The word is a compound of خبر (khabar), meaning news or information, borrowed from Arabic خَبَر (khabar) with the same meaning, and دار (dâr), the pure Persian agent suffix meaning possessing or having. So the literal sense is one who has news or is in possession of information. The phrase خبردار باش (khabardâr bâsh) can mean watch out or heads up in informal speech.

How to use it

• از ماجرا خبردار شدی؟ (az mâjara khabardâr shodi?) “Did you find out about what happened?”
• هنوز خبردار نیستم. (hanuz khabardâr nistam.) “I am not aware of it yet.”
• خبردار! (khabardâr!) “Attention!” (military command)
• اگه چیزی فهمیدی خبردارم کن. (age chizi fahmidi khabardâram kon.) “If you find out anything, let me know.”

Cultural note

The military sense of خبردار is familiar to most Iranian men who completed compulsory military service, and the barked command خبردار stands out in memory as one of the first things a conscript hears. In civilian life the word operates at a gentler register, and the phrase خبرت کنم (khabaret konam, I will let you know) shares the same root. The cultural value placed on being خبردار in a social sense reflects the importance of information networks and staying connected within Iranian family and community life.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab