منظور

What it means

منظور (manzur) is an Arabic-origin noun from the root ن-ظ-ر (n-z-r), which relates to looking, viewing, and consideration. In Persian it has settled into the specific meaning of intention, purpose, or what someone means by something. When someone asks منظورت چیه, they are asking “what do you mean?” or “what is your point?” When someone says منظور من اینه, they are about to clarify or restate their purpose: “what I mean is this.” The word is slightly more formal than the everyday colloquial میگم یعنی (I mean, that is to say), but it is used across all registers and is entirely natural in spoken Farsi at the A2 level. It is one of the small set of abstract nouns that learners must internalize early because it structures how Persian speakers talk about intent and meaning.

How to use it

• منظورت چیه؟ (manzuret chiye?) “What do you mean?”
• منظور من اینه که… (manzur-e man ine ke…) “What I mean is that…”
• منظورم بد نبود (manzuram bad nabud) “I didn’t mean anything bad by it.”
• منظوری داشتی؟ (manzuri dashti?) “Did you mean something by that?”

Cultural note

In Persian conversation, checking منظور is a culturally important act. Because Iranian communication often runs on implication, indirection, and ta’arof, asking منظورت چیه is a legitimate and frequent move to confirm that you have understood correctly. It is not rude or aggressive; it is clarification. The phrase منظوری نداشت (he or she had no particular intention behind it) is often used to defuse a misunderstanding, especially when tone or wording has been misread. Fluent speakers also use منظورم اینه که as a softening connector when redirecting a conversation or adding nuance to something they said earlier.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab