What it means
اجاق (ojâq) is the standard Persian word for a stove or cooktop, whether gas or electric. It comes from Turkish ocak, meaning hearth or fireplace, and entered Persian as part of the deep Turkic influence on everyday household vocabulary. In older usage اجاق referred to an open hearth or clay oven, but in modern speech it means any kitchen cooking appliance with burners. A close companion word is فر (far), which specifically means oven, so اجاق covers the stovetop while فر covers the baking chamber below.
How to use it
- اجاق رو خاموش کردی؟ (ojâq ro khâmush kardi?) “Did you turn off the stove?”
- غذا رو بذار رو اجاق تا گرم بشه. (ghazâ ro bezâr ru ojâq tâ garm beshe.) “Put the food on the stove so it heats up.”
- اجاق گاز ما خراب شده. (ojâq-e gâz-e mâ kharâb shode.) “Our gas stove is broken.”
- بچهها نزدیک اجاق نیان. (bachche-hâ nazdik-e ojâq nayan.) “Children should not come near the stove.”
Cultural note
In pre-modern Iran, the اجاق was a central clay or brick hearth that heated both food and the home, and the word carried symbolic weight: a family’s اجاق represented its lineage and continuity, giving rise to phrases like اجاقت کور نشه (may your hearth never go cold), a blessing for fertility and household prosperity. This older meaning is still understood even as the word has shifted entirely to the modern gas cooktop in everyday speech.