What it means
پاشنه (pâshne) is the everyday Persian word for the heel, the rounded back part of your foot that hits the ground first when you walk. It is a native Persian word, attested in older forms of the language. By extension it also means the heel of a shoe (پاشنه کفش) and, in carpentry, the pivot pin a door turns on (پاشنه در). For the broader bottom of the foot people say کف پا (kaf-e pâ), so پاشنه is the more specific part at the back.
How to use it
- پاشنه پام درد میکنه. (pâshne-ye pâm dard mikone.) “My heel hurts.”
- پاشنه این کفش خیلی بلنده. (pâshne-ye in kafsh kheyli bolande.) “The heel of this shoe is very high.”
- پاشنه کفشتو نخوابون. (pâshne-ye kafshet-o nakhâbun.) “Don’t crush down the heel of your shoe.”
- روی پاشنه پا چرخید و رفت. (ru-ye pâshne-ye pâ charkhid o raft.) “He turned on his heel and left.”
Cultural note
Persian uses پاشنه in a few familiar settings. Crushing down the back of a shoe to wear it like a slipper is so common that there is a verb for it, پاشنه خواباندن, and parents often tell kids not to do it. The high-heeled shoe is called کفش پاشنهبلند (kafsh-e pâshne-boland). The same word also lives in everyday talk about doors, since the پاشنه در is the old pivot a wooden door swings on.