What it means
مزد (mozd) is one of the oldest words in the Persian lexicon, tracing back to Avestan *mīžda*, meaning reward or recompense. In modern Persian it means wage, specifically the pay received in exchange for manual or daily labor. It differs from حقوق (hoghugh), which usually refers to a salaried income paid monthly to white-collar employees, and from دستمزد (dastmozd, “hand-wage”), a near-synonym that emphasizes payment for physical work. The phrase حداقل مزد (hadaghol-e mozd) is the standard term for the legal minimum wage set by the Iranian government each year.
How to use it
- مزدش رو نگرفته. (mozdash ro nagerefte.) “He has not received his wage.”
- مزد کارگر رو سر وقت بده. (mozd-e kārgar ro sar-e vaqt bede.) “Pay the worker’s wage on time.”
- مزد این کار چقدره؟ (mozd-e in kār cheghadre?) “What is the wage for this work?”
- حداقل مزد امسال زیاد شد. (hadaghol-e mozd-e emsāl ziād shod.) “The minimum wage increased this year.”
Cultural note
In Iran, the minimum wage is renegotiated each year before Nowruz (Persian New Year) by a tripartite council of government representatives, employer groups, and labor unions, then published officially as حداقل مزد. This annual negotiation is closely watched by workers and businesses alike, especially given the persistent inflation that has eroded real wages over recent years. The word مزد also carries a moral dimension in classical Persian literature, where it appears in poetry and religious texts to mean divine reward or the just recompense that a person earns through righteous deeds.