What it means
مدرک (madrak) is borrowed from Arabic, from the root درک (d-r-k), meaning to reach, to comprehend, or to attain. The Arabic form madrak (مدرك) literally names the instrument or means by which something is grasped or proven. In Persian it carries two closely related senses: first, any official document (an ID, a contract, a receipt), and second, an academic degree or credential. Context usually makes the meaning clear. مدارک (madârek) is its broken plural. A near synonym for the document sense is سند (sanad, deed or record), and for the academic sense is مدرک تحصیلی (madrak-e tahsili, educational credential).
How to use it
- مدرک دانشگاهیم رو از ایران آوردم. (Madrak-e dâneshgâhi-am ro az Irân âvordam.) “I brought my university degree from Iran.”
- این مدرک رو باید تایید کنی. (In madrak ro bâyad tâyid koni.) “You need to certify this document.”
- بدون مدرک حرفت رو قبول نمیکنن. (Bedun-e madrak harf-et ro qabul nemikonan.) “Without a document they will not accept what you say.”
- چه مدرکی داری؟ (Che madraki dâri?) “What qualifications do you have?”
Cultural note
In Iranian society مدرک carries real social weight in the sense of academic credential. Having a university degree, especially from a recognized institution, has historically been a marker of status and a prerequisite for many white-collar jobs. The phrase مدرک داری؟ (do you have a credential?) can be both a practical HR question and a social probe. In recent years a common critique in Iranian public discourse is مدرکگرایی (madrak-garâyi, credential-ism), the tendency to value the paper over actual competence, which shows how loaded this small word has become.