What it means
سالگرد (saligard) means “anniversary” and is a compound of two pure Persian elements: سال (sal, year) and گرد (gard), derived from the verb گردیدن (gardidan, to revolve or to come around). The full sense is something like “the year coming around again.” It is used for any kind of yearly commemoration, joyful or solemn: a wedding anniversary, the anniversary of a death, a founding date. A close synonym in more formal contexts is سالروز (salruz), where روز simply means “day.”
How to use it
- سالگرد ازدواجمون مبارک! (saligard-e ezdevajemun mobarak!) “Happy wedding anniversary!”
- فردا سالگرد فوت پدرمه. (farda saligard-e fot-e padaram-e.) “Tomorrow is the anniversary of my father’s passing.”
- سالگرد تاسیس شرکت رو جشن گرفتیم. (saligard-e tasis-e sherkat ro jashn gereftim.) “We celebrated the company’s founding anniversary.”
- این سالگرد صدمین سال انقلابه. (in saligard sadoMin sal-e enqelabe.) “This anniversary marks the hundredth year of the revolution.”
Cultural note
In Iranian culture, سالگرد is used both for celebrations and for mourning. Families commonly observe the one-year anniversary of a loved one’s death with a religious gathering and a shared meal. Wedding anniversaries are a more recent social tradition influenced by Western customs, but are now widely celebrated in urban Iran. National commemorations such as the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution on 22 Bahman are also referred to with this word.