What it means
اپراتور (operator) is a direct borrowing from English into Persian, used without translation in modern Persian speech and writing. It refers to an operator in several overlapping senses: a telephone or call-centre operator who handles incoming lines, a machine or equipment operator in a factory or industrial setting, and, very commonly in everyday speech, a mobile network provider such as Hamrahe Avval or Irancell, which Iranians call اپراتور موبایل (operator-e mobile). The English word itself comes from the Latin operari, meaning to work or to act. There is no established Persian equivalent that has displaced this loanword in any of its common uses.
How to use it
- اپراتور گفت باید چند دقیقه صبر کنید. (Operator goft bayad chand daghigheh sabr konid.) “The operator said you need to wait a few minutes.”
- اپراتور موبایلم اینترنت قطع کرده. (Operator-e mobilam internet ghat’ kardeh.) “My mobile network operator has cut off the internet.”
- با اپراتور تماس بگیرید تا مشکل حل بشه. (Ba operator tamas begirid ta moshkel hal besheh.) “Contact the operator so the problem can be resolved.”
- اون اپراتور دستگاه تو کارخونهست. (On operator-e dastgah too karkhuneh-st.) “He is a machine operator at the factory.”
Cultural note
In everyday Iranian speech, اپراتور most often refers to a mobile network carrier. Iran has three main mobile operators: همراه اول (Hamrahe Avval, MCI), ایرانسل (Irancell), and رایتل (Rightel). Complaints about اپراتور موبایل coverage or internet throttling are a staple topic of daily conversation, particularly during periods of government-ordered network restrictions. In older usage, the word also describes telephone exchange operators, a role that was once a significant source of employment for women in Iran during the mid-twentieth century.