What it means
پیچگوشتی (pich-gushti) means screwdriver. The word is a native Persian compound. پیچ (pich) means screw or twist, and the second element گوشتی is a phonetically shifted form of گشتی, derived from گشتن (to turn, to rotate), referencing the torque applied when driving a screw. The variant form پیچگَشتی (pich-gashti) is listed alongside the modern spelling as an equivalent name, all meaning the turning tool for screws. An alternative name you will sometimes hear is پیچکش (pich-kesh), meaning screw-puller, used for the same tool.
How to use it
- پیچگوشتی رو بیار پیچ رو سفت کنم. (pich-gushtio biâr pich ro seft konam.) “Bring the screwdriver so I can tighten the screw.”
- پیچگوشتی چهارسو داری؟ (pich-gushti-ye chahâr-su dâri?) “Do you have a Phillips-head screwdriver?”
- با پیچگوشتی در رو باز کردم. (bâ pich-gushti daro bâz kardam.) “I opened the cover with a screwdriver.”
- پیچگوشتیم کجا رفت؟ (pich-gushtiym kojâ raft?) “Where did my screwdriver go?”
Cultural note
The screwdriver entered Iranian households alongside industrially manufactured screws in the nineteenth century. Because the concept and the tool arrived together, Persian speakers coined a descriptive compound from native roots rather than borrowing a foreign term, which was typical of the Qajar-era approach to naming new tools. The alternative پیچکش follows the same pattern of native compounding. Today both پیچگوشتی and پیچکش are understood everywhere, though پیچگوشتی is the more common spoken form.