پول

پول means money in Persian. Iranians don’t talk about it the way Americans do, and the word’s reach into idioms reflects that quiet treatment.

What it actually means

پول means “money” in Persian as an abstract noun: any currency, any amount, any form. Iranians use it constantly for transactional language (“how much?”), but historically the culture has been more reticent about specifics. Older Iranians find it slightly rude to ask about salary, rent, or the cost of a friend’s house. Younger Iranians, especially in big cities, are more open. The word slots into compound forms naturally: پولدار (pul-dār, “moneyed, rich”), بی‌پول (bī-pul, “moneyless, broke”), پول جیب (pul-e jīb, “pocket money”). Iran’s currency is the rial (ریال), but in everyday speech almost everyone uses تومان (tomān), an older unit equal to 10 rials, even when the official price is rial-denominated. The mismatch between official and spoken currency is a source of constant minor confusion for visitors.

How to say it

پول is invariant. Common collocations: پول دادن (to pay, “to give money”), پول گرفتن (to receive money), پول جمع کردن (to save money, “to gather money”). The phrase “پولش رو بده” (pul-esh ro bede, “give the money for it”) is what a shopkeeper says when finalizing a transaction. The opposite “پول می‌گیرم” (pul mīgīram, “I’ll take the money”) closes the loop.

In a sentence

Cultural note

پول is native Iranian, traceable to Old Iranian *pulah- (“small coin, currency”). Some etymologists have suggested influence from Greek “obolos” (a small Athenian coin) via cultural contact during the Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods, but the word’s roots are clearly within the Iranian language family. Iran’s monetary history is layered: the rial replaced the qiran in 1932, and the toman survived as the colloquial currency unit because everyday speech rarely changes when official policy does. Inflation has compounded the toman’s stickiness. In casual conversation Iranians now sometimes drop zeroes entirely and just name the amount, leaving it to context whether they mean rials, tomans, or even the new toman that may eventually replace the old one. The cultural reticence around discussing money is loosening among younger Iranians but remains a real social signal in older or more traditional settings.

Related

You will see this word together with کار (work, where pul comes from) and خانه (home, where most pul goes). For the formal vocabulary you need around money in Persian business contexts, see 50 essential Persian business vocabulary terms.