What it means
میلادی (milâdi) is the adjective Iranians attach to any Gregorian date. It derives from Arabic میلاد (milâd), meaning birth or nativity, specifically the birth of Jesus Christ from which the Common Era count begins. When an Iranian says سال میلادی (sâl-e milâdi) they mean the Gregorian year, in contrast to سال هجری شمسی (sâl-e hejri-ye shamsi), the Persian solar year. The word carries no religious weight in everyday speech; it is purely a calendar label. A practical near-synonym is تقویم مسیحی (taqvim-e massihi), meaning Christian calendar, but میلادی is far more common in spoken and written Persian.
How to use it
- الان چند سال میلادیه؟ (alân chand sâl-e milâdie?) “What Gregorian year is it now?”
- این قرارداد تا اول ژانویه میلادی اعتبار داره. (in qarârdâd tâ avval-e zhânviye-ye milâdi e’tebâr dâre.) “This contract is valid until the first of January in the Gregorian calendar.”
- تاریخ میلادی پاسپورتم رو بنویس. (târikh-e milâdi-ye pâsportam-o benevvis.) “Write my passport date in Gregorian.”
- دو هزار و بیست و شش میلادی با هزار و چهارصد و پنج هجری شمسی مطابقه. (do hezâr o bist o shesh-e milâdi bâ hezâr o chahârsad o panj-e hejri-ye shamsi motâbeqe.) “2026 CE corresponds to 1405 in the solar Hijri calendar.”
Cultural note
In Iran, official documents, personal identity cards, and school diplomas display dates in the hejri-ye shamsi calendar, not the Gregorian one. International passports and visas, however, use the Gregorian date, so Iranians regularly convert between the two. Many Iranians hold both dates in mind for their own birthday: the shamsi date they celebrate, and the milâdi date their passport carries. Online tools and apps for shamsi-to-milâdi conversion are extremely popular among Iranian diaspora communities worldwide.