غار
غار (ghâr) means a cave or grotto. Borrowed from Arabic غار (ghâr), which itself entered Arabic from Aramaic. Now fully naturalized in Persian, it is the standard everyday word for any natural cave or hollow.
Glossary
صخره
صخره (sakhre) means a rock, cliff, or large boulder. Borrowed from Arabic, where the initial letter ص and the broken plural صخور (sokhur) confirm its origin. Used in both everyday and formal Persian.
دامنه
دامنه (dâmane) means the slope or foothill of a mountain. A native Persian word built from دامن (skirt, hem), it pictures the mountain as wearing its lower slopes like a robe.
قله
قله (qolle) means a summit or mountain peak. Borrowed from Arabic قُلَّة (qulla), with broken plurals قلل (qolal) and قلات (qollât). In Persian it is the standard word for the highest point of any mountain.
تپه
تپه (tappe) means a hill or mound. Borrowed into Persian from Turkic (compare Azerbaijani tepe), it is now fully naturalized and used at all levels of everyday speech.
دشت
دشت (dasht) means a flat, open plain or steppe. A native Persian word from Middle Persian, it describes the vast dry flatlands central to Iran’s geography and poetry.
دره
دره (darre) means valley. It is a pure Persian word for the lowland between hills or mountains, used in geography, place names, and everyday speech about landscape.
هلال
هلال (helâl) means crescent, specifically the crescent moon. It is an Arabic loanword from هِلَال (hilâl), and carries deep significance in Islamic timekeeping, calendars, and symbolism.
شهاب
شهاب (shahâb) means meteor or shooting star. It is an Arabic loanword from شِهَاب (shihâb), meaning flame or blaze. In Persian it appears in names, poetry, and everyday speech about falling stars.
سیاره
سیاره (sayyâre) means planet. It comes from Arabic root س-ی-ر (s-y-r), meaning to travel or wander. The planets were the wanderers of the ancient sky, and Arabic astronomers named them accordingly.