What it means
خاموش (khâmush) means silent, switched off, or extinguished. It is pure Persian, built on the root conveying the idea of going out or being quenched, the same root that gives the verb خاموش کردن (khâmush kardan, to turn off or to silence) and خاموش شدن (khâmush shodan, to turn off or to go silent). The adjective applies to anything that has stopped emitting: a phone screen that has gone dark, a fire that has been put out, a person who has fallen silent, or a light that has been switched off. In this range of use it differs from ساکت (sâket), which applies more specifically to silence in the acoustic sense. خاموش covers both silence and extinction of light or energy.
How to use it
- گوشیت خاموشه (gushit khâmushe) “Your phone is off.”
- چراغا رو خاموش کن (cherâghâ ro khâmush kon) “Turn off the lights.”
- خاموش باش (khâmush bâsh) “Be quiet / Stay silent.”
- آتیش خاموش شد (âtish khâmush shod) “The fire went out.”
Cultural note
In Persian poetry, خاموش carries deep weight as a metaphor for death, forgetting, or the end of a love. Poets use it to describe a candle going out (شمع خاموش شد) as an image of a life ending or a presence departing. This poetic register bleeds into everyday speech: telling someone خاموش باش, depending on tone, can range from a casual “shh” to a pointed command to stop speaking entirely. The word also appears in the famous pen name of the poet Shams Tabrizi’s companion, and in classical texts the moment of a saint’s death is often described as خاموش شدن.
References
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