What it means
محصول (mahsul) covers a broad range of meanings: “crop,” “harvest,” “produce,” and even “product” in a commercial sense. It comes from the Arabic root ح-ص-ل (h-s-l), meaning “to be obtained” or “to result,” so mahsul is literally “that which is obtained” or “the result of labor.” In an agricultural context, محصول refers to the harvest or yield from a field. In a commercial context, it simply means “product,” as in a factory product or manufactured good. Because of this flexibility, you will encounter mahsul constantly in news reports, shop talk, and everyday conversation.
How to use it
- محصول امسال خیلی خوبه. (mahsul-e emsâl kheyli khube.) “This year’s crop is very good.”
- این محصول ایرانیه یا وارداتی؟ (in mahsul irâniye yâ vârâdâti?) “Is this product Iranian or imported?”
- سرما به محصولات کشاورزی آسیب زد. (sarmâ be mahsulât-e keshâvarzi âsib zad.) “The cold damaged the agricultural crops.”
- محصولات لبنی این شرکت معروفه. (mahsulât-e labani-ye in sherkat marufe.) “This company’s dairy products are well known.”
Cultural note
محصول is one of the most versatile Arabic loanwords in Persian, moving freely between the agricultural world and the marketplace. On supermarket shelves, packaging will read محصول ایران (mahsul-e Irân, “product of Iran”) or محصول طبیعی (mahsul-e tabii, “natural product”). In rural Iran, the annual محصول is a deeply anticipated event: the harvest determines whether a family has surplus to sell, enough to store, or faces a difficult year. Iranian news and economic reporting frequently uses the plural محصولات (mahsulât) when discussing agricultural output statistics.