What it means
خطکش (khat-kesh) means ruler, the flat measuring and line-drawing tool. It is a compound of two elements with different origins. خط (khat) is borrowed from Arabic خَطّ (khatt) meaning line, script, or stroke of the pen. کش (kesh) is the present stem of the pure Persian verb کشیدن (kashidan), meaning to draw, pull, or extend. So the compound means “line-drawer,” which is exactly what a ruler does. This mixed-origin formation is common in Persian, where Arabic nouns combine freely with Persian verbal stems. There is no common synonym: خطکش is the standard word in all registers from classroom to construction site.
How to use it
- خطکش رو بده بکشم (khat-kesh ro bede bekesham) “Hand me the ruler so I can draw a line.”
- بدون خطکش خط مستقیم نمیتونی بکشی (bedun-e khat-kesh khat-e mostaqim nemituni bekeshi) “You can’t draw a straight line without a ruler.”
- خطکش فلزی بهتر از پلاستیکیه (khat-kesh-e felezi behtar az pelâstikiye) “A metal ruler is better than a plastic one.”
- خطکشم شکست (khat-kesh-am shekast) “My ruler broke.”
Cultural note
In Iranian middle and high schools, geometry (هندسه, hendese) is a compulsory subject, and the خطکش is as essential as the compass and protractor in the student’s pencil case. Technical drawing classes once required wooden rulers with beveled edges, and students took pride in keeping them unmarked. Beyond the classroom, خطکش also appears in the phrase خطکشی کردن (khat-keshi kardan), meaning to draw a boundary or to demarcate, used figuratively in political and social speech to mean setting a clear limit between two positions.