حلزون
حلزون (halazun) means “snail” in Persian. Borrowed from Arabic, it describes the slow-moving shelled creature found in gardens and used in everyday comparisons for slowness.
Glossary
میگو
میگو (meygu) means shrimp or prawn. It is a native Persian word for one of the most commonly eaten seafoods in Iran, especially along the Persian Gulf coast, where it is a culinary staple.
خرچنگ
خرچنگ (kharchang) means crab or crayfish. It is a native Persian word that also names the Cancer zodiac sign in classical Persian astronomy, showing its deep roots in the language.
اسبماهی
اسبماهی (asb-mâhi) means seahorse. It is a pure Persian compound: asb (horse) plus mâhi (fish), both native words, describing the animal’s distinctive horse-like head perfectly.
کوسه
کوسه (kuse) means shark. The word descends from Middle Persian and is native to the Iranian family; Arabic كوسج (kawsaj) and Turkish köse are borrowings from Persian, not the other way around.
نهنگ
نهنگ (nahang) means whale. It is a native Persian word with roots in Middle Persian, and classically it referred to any large, fearsome sea monster before settling on its modern meaning.
دلفین
دلفین (delfin) means dolphin. The word entered Persian through Arabic, which itself borrowed it from Greek. It is one of the most recognizable sea animals in Farsi.
مینا
مینا (mina) in Persian means myna bird, a talking bird from South Asia. The bird sense is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu mainā, itself from Sanskrit. The word is unrelated to the Persian-origin مینا meaning enamel.
طوطی
طوطی (tuti) means parrot in Persian, borrowed via Sogdian from Indo-Aryan languages. Despite its Arabic-letter spelling, the word is not of Arabic origin and holds rich cultural resonance in Persian poetry.
پلیکان
پلیکان (pelikan) is the Persian word for pelican, a modern zoological borrowing that entered Persian via French or English, both of which trace back to Greek pelekan. The word is used in everyday and scientific Persian with a neutral register.