What it means
مریض (mariz) means sick or ill. It comes from Arabic, where the root م-ر-ض (m-r-ḍ) gives words related to illness and disease. In Persian, مریض works both as an adjective (I am sick) and as a noun (the patient). A close synonym is بیمار (bimar), which is the pure-Persian word for sick or patient. In everyday speech both are equally common, though بیمار leans slightly more formal in medical contexts.
How to use it
- من مریضم. (man marizam.) “I am sick.”
- دیروز مریض شدم. (diruz mariz shodam.) “I got sick yesterday.”
- مریض رو به دکتر بردیم. (mariz ro be doktor bordim.) “We took the patient to the doctor.”
- بچهام مریض بود و مدرسه نرفت. (bache-am mariz bud o madrese naraft.) “My child was sick and did not go to school.”
Cultural note
In Iranian culture, illness often prompts an immediate outpouring of care and concern from family and friends. Visiting a sick person, known as عیادت (eyâdat), is considered a social and sometimes religious duty. It is common to say خدا شفا بده (khodâ shafâ bede), meaning “may God grant recovery,” when hearing that someone is unwell. The word مریض appears frequently in everyday Persian conversation and is one of the first health-related words any Persian learner should master.