پاک

What it means

پاک (pâk) means clean, pure, or unsullied. It is a pure Persian adjective with a long history covering both physical and moral meanings: a clean surface is پاک, and an honest conscience is also described as پاک. The compound verb پاک کردن (pâk kardan) means to clean, to wipe, or to erase, depending on context: you پاک می‌کنی a table, a chalkboard, or a wound with the same verb. پاک شدن (pâk shodan) means to become clean or to be wiped away. In colloquial speech پاک کردن is also the standard word for erasing text or deleting a file. A related adjective is تمیز (tamiz), borrowed from Arabic, which overlaps strongly with پاک in the sense of physically clean; in everyday use Iranians treat them as synonyms for surface-cleanliness, but پاک carries the extra moral and spiritual dimension that تمیز does not.

How to use it

• دستات پاکه؟ (dastât pâke?) “Are your hands clean?”
• میز رو پاک کن (miz ro pâk kon) “Wipe the table.”
• این آدم دلش پاکه (in âdam del-ash pâke) “This person has a pure heart.”
• تخته رو پاک کردم (takhte ro pâk kardam) “I erased the board.”

Cultural note

The concept of پاکی carries deep weight in Persian culture beyond physical hygiene. A پاک دل (pâk del, pure-hearted) person is considered trustworthy and spiritually sound. The word appears frequently in Persian poetry and classical literature as a moral ideal. In everyday speech, calling someone’s intentions or feelings پاک is a high compliment. At the same time, the word does its most mundane work in households every day, appearing in requests to wipe up spills, clean surfaces, and erase mistakes, which is perhaps why it retains its power: the same word cleans a table and describes a saint.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab