What it means
کوسه (kuse) is the everyday Farsi word for shark. The word descends from Middle Persian kōsag and is attested in sources as old as the Bundahishn. Arabic كوسج (kawsaj) and Ottoman Turkish köse are borrowings from Persian, not its source. According to scholars, the fish is probably named after the word’s secondary meaning of “beardless” or “lacking covering,” referring to the shark’s scaleless skin. In spoken Persian today کوسه is the standard, neutral term you will hear in conversation, documentaries, and news. An older separate meaning of کوسه is a person with very thin facial hair or a sparse beard, but context makes the meaning clear: in any sentence about the sea or ocean, it means shark.
How to use it
- کوسه یه ماهی خطرناکه. (kuse ye mâhi khatarnâke.) “A shark is a dangerous fish.”
- تو اون آبها کوسه هست؟ (tu un âb-hâ kuse hast?) “Are there sharks in those waters?”
- فیلم کوسه رو دیدی؟ (film-e kuse ro didi?) “Have you seen the shark movie?”
- کوسهها معمولا به آدم حمله نمیکنن. (kuse-hâ mamolan be âdam hamle nemi-konan.) “Sharks usually don’t attack people.”
Cultural note
Sharks are not a common feature of Iranian folk tradition the way they are in coastal cultures of the Pacific, but the waters of the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman do host several species. Popular Hollywood shark films, dubbed into Persian and widely watched in Iran, have made کوسه a well-known word even among people far from the coast. The word’s ancient Iranian roots reflect the depth of Persian seafaring vocabulary, with neighboring languages borrowing the term rather than supplying it.