What it means
پارلمان (pârlemân) refers to a legislative assembly or parliament. The word is borrowed directly from French “parlement,” which itself comes from the Old French verb “parler” meaning to speak. The term entered Persian during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when Iranian intellectuals and reformers were closely following European constitutional systems. In everyday Persian speech, the word مجلس (majles) is far more common for the Iranian legislature, while پارلمان tends to appear when referring to foreign parliaments such as the British Parliament or the European Parliament.
How to use it
- پارلمان انگلستان در لندن است. (pârlemân-e engelestân dar london ast.) “The British Parliament is in London.”
- پارلمان اروپا رای داد. (pârlemân-e orupâ ra’y dâd.) “The European Parliament voted.”
- این قانون در پارلمان تصویب شد. (in qânun dar pârlemân tasvib shod.) “This law was approved in parliament.”
- نمایندگان پارلمان جلسه فوقالعاده داشتند. (namâyandegân-e pârlemân jalase-ye fowqol’âde dâshtand.) “The parliament members held an emergency session.”
Cultural note
The concept of a parliamentary system became central to Iranian political debate during the Constitutional Revolution of 1905 to 1911, when reformers demanded a legislature to limit royal power. Although Iranians ultimately named their own assembly مجلس شورای ملی (majles-e shurâ-ye melli), the word پارلمان was part of that era’s vocabulary of political modernization. Today پارلمان signals a foreign or comparative context in Persian journalism and political science texts.