What it means
قهرمان (qahremân) means a champion, a hero, or the title-holder in a competition. The word is a Persian formation: قهر (qahr, meaning force, power, or subjugation) combined with the nominal suffix مان (-mân). The suffix is Persian, though قهر itself entered Persian from Arabic قَهَرَ (to overpower). Persian grammarians and Dehkhoda classify قهرمان as a Persian word because the compound structure and the -mân suffix are native, and the word does not follow any Arabic triliteral morphological pattern. In modern everyday speech it is used for the winner of a sports league or tournament, and also for a hero in literature or film. A direct contrast is شکستخورده (shekast-khordeh), meaning the loser or the defeated one.
How to use it
- تیم ما قهرمان شد. (tim-e ma qahreaman shod.) “Our team became champions.”
- اون قهرمان ملی کشتیه. (un qahreaman-e melli-ye koshti-ye.) “He is the national wrestling champion.”
- قهرمان داستان خیلی باهوشه. (qahreaman-e dastan kheyli bahushe.) “The hero of the story is very smart.”
- ایران قهرمان جام ملتها شد. (Iran qahreaman-e jaam-e mellat-ha shod.) “Iran became champion of the Nations Cup.”
Cultural note
The word قهرمان carries genuine weight in Iranian culture beyond simply “the winner.” Iran has a long oral and literary tradition of heroes, from the mythic warriors of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh to modern Olympic medallists. Wrestlers and weightlifters who bring home Olympic gold are greeted as national قهرمانها (qahreaman-ha, champions). The annual national wrestling championships are called مسابقات قهرمانی کشتی (mosâbeqât-e qahremâni-ye koshti), a phrase heard every season on Iranian television.