What it means
خصوصی (khosusi) means private or personal. It comes from Arabic خُصوصي (khususi), an adjective derived from the root خ-ص-ص (kh-s-s) meaning to be specific or to be allocated to, with the noun خصوص (khosus) meaning a particular matter or a specific thing. In Persian, خصوصی is the standard adjective for private in contrast to دولتی (dowlati, governmental or state-run): a private school is مدرسه خصوصی, a private hospital is بیمارستان خصوصی. It also covers the personal sense: کار خصوصی (kâr-e khosusi) means personal business, something not intended for others. خصوصیسازی (khosusi-sâzi), literally making-private, is the standard word for privatization.
How to use it
- مدرسه خصوصی (madrase-ye khosusi) “private school”
- این کار خصوصیمه (in kâr-e khosuim-e) “This is my personal business.”
- بخش خصوصی (bakhsh-e khosusi) “the private sector”
- خصوصیسازی کارخونه (khosusi-sâzi-ye kârkhune) “privatization of the factory”
Cultural note
The tension between خصوصی (private) and دولتی (state-run) has been a defining feature of Iranian economic and social life since the 1979 Revolution, which nationalized large parts of the economy, followed by waves of partial privatization from the 1990s onward. The phrase بخش خصوصی (the private sector) carries ideological weight in Iranian public discourse. In education, the distinction matters greatly to families: مدرسه خصوصی is associated with smaller classes, better resources, and higher fees, while مدرسه دولتی is the universal public school system.
References
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