What it means
نیمه (nimeh) is a pure Persian word meaning half or middle portion, tracing back to Middle Persian nēmag. In sports, نیمه refers to one half of a match, so a standard football game has نیمه اول (nimeh-ye avval, the first half) and نیمه دوم (nimeh-ye dovvom, the second half). Outside sports it appears in words like نیمهشب (nimeh-shab, midnight) and نیمهکاره (nimeh-kâreh, half-finished). A related sports term is نیمهٔ بازی (nimeh-ye bâzi), which functions as a near synonym in casual speech.
How to use it
- نیمه اول خوب بازی کردیم. (nimeh-ye avval khub bâzi kardim.) “We played well in the first half.”
- در نیمه دوم گل زدند. (dar nimeh-ye dovvom gol zadand.) “They scored in the second half.”
- وقت نیمه تموم شد. (vaqt-e nimeh tamum shod.) “Half-time is over.”
- بازی در نیمه اول برگشت. (bâzi dar nimeh-ye avval bargasht.) “The match turned around in the first half.”
Cultural note
The break between the two نیمهها (nimehâ, halves) is a social ritual for Iranian sports fans. Families gathered around the television use the interval to refuel on tea and snacks while dissecting the first half’s performance. In professional Persian football commentary, announcers almost always recap statistics at the نیمه, and the phrase “dar nimeh-ye dovvom” signals a turning point in match narratives just as reliably as it does in English-language commentary.