قاچاق
قاچاق (qachaq) means smuggling, contraband, or black-market trade. It entered Persian from Turkic, where kaçak means fugitive or runaway, from the verb kaçmak, to flee.
Glossary
پولشویی
پولشویی (pul-shuyi) means money laundering, the crime of disguising illegally obtained funds as legitimate income. It is a modern Persian calque of the English term.
ارتشاء
ارتشاء (erteshâ) is the formal Arabic-origin legal term for bribery, specifically taking a bribe. It differs from رشوه (reshve), which names the bribe itself, not the act.
سلاح
سلاح (silah) is an Arabic loanword meaning weapon or arms, covering both firearms and bladed weapons. In Persian it is pronounced selâh and used in formal and legal contexts.
حاکم
حاکم (hakem) is an Arabic loanword meaning judge or presiding magistrate in a court. It comes from the Arabic root ح-ک-م (h-k-m), relating to judgment and rule.
دادخواست
دادخواست (dadkhast) is the formal Persian word for a lawsuit or legal petition filed in court. It combines dad (justice) and khast (request), both from Middle Persian roots.
متهم
متهم (motaham) means accused, defendant, or the charged person in formal Persian, borrowed from Arabic. It functions both as an adjective and as a noun. In legal contexts it is the standard word for the person facing criminal charges.
زندان
زندان (zendân) is the everyday Persian word for prison or jail, with roots going back to Middle Persian. Unlike the formal Arabic-origin habs, zendân is the neutral, universally understood word Iranians use in speech and writing alike.
حبس
حبس (habs) means imprisonment, detention, or a jail sentence in formal Persian, borrowed from Arabic. It is the legal register counterpart to the everyday word zendân (prison). You encounter habs most in courtroom verdicts and legal statutes.
مجازات
مجازات (mojâzât) means punishment, legal penalty, or sentence in Persian, borrowed from Arabic. It covers everything from fines to imprisonment. The verb form is مجازات کردن, to punish.