مهر (mehr) is the start of Persian autumn, September 23 to October 22, and the start of the school year, named for the ancient Yazata of contracts and the sun.
What it actually means
مهر is the seventh month of the Iranian solar calendar, running September 23 to October 22. The first day of mehr (1 مهر) is the traditional start of the Iranian school year. So when Iranians hear مهر, they associate it with first-day photos, new uniforms, sharpened pencils, and the slight chill that finally breaks the summer heat. مهر is also a regular Persian word meaning “affection, love, kindness” (مهر و محبت, mehr-o-mohabbat “love and affection”), and a seal or stamp (مهر زدن, mehr zadan “to stamp”). The same three letters carry all three senses, so context decides which one is meant.
How to say it
Formal
mehr
“seventh month, September-October”
مهر
Colloquial (Tehrani)
mehr
unchanged
مهر
How to use it
- اول مهر مدرسه شروع میشه. · avval-e mehr madrese shoru’ mishe. · School starts on the first of Mehr.
- مهر هوا خنکتر میشه. · mehr havâ khonaktar mishe. · The weather gets cooler in Mehr.
- پنجم مهر تولد دخترمه. · panjom-e mehr tavallod-e dokhtaram-e. · The 5th of Mehr is my daughter’s birthday.
Where it comes from
مهر is the modern Persian form of Mithra, the Avestan Yazata of covenants, light, and the sun. Mithra is one of the oldest divine figures in Indo-Iranian religion, attested in Zoroastrian and pre-Zoroastrian Iranian belief, and exported to the Roman Empire as the god Mithras. The Yazata governs sworn oaths, friendship, and the rising sun. The month dedicated to Mithra carried the name into Middle Persian as Mihr and modern Persian as مهر. The same root produced the modern word for “love, affection” (because Mithra is also the spirit of bonds between people), the word for “seal” (because oaths were sealed under Mithra’s witness), and the word for the autumn festival مهرگان (mehregân), still celebrated by Zoroastrians on 16 mehr. One Yazata, four modern senses, all alive in everyday Persian.
Related
The festival: مهرگان (mehregân). Adjacent months: شهریور (shahrivar), آبان (âbân). For the affection sense, see مهر (love).
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