What it means
سانتیمتر (sântimetr) means “centimetre,” a unit of length equal to one hundredth of a metre. The word came into Persian from French (centimètre), which is clear from the Persian pronunciation sânti rather than the Latin-rooted centi. Iran uses the metric system, so sântimetr is the standard small unit for measuring lengths in everyday contexts. A related unit is میلیمتر (milimetr) for smaller measurements and متر (metr) for larger ones. In casual speech the full word is used as-is, with no common shortening.
How to use it
- قدم صد و هفتاد سانتیمتره. (qadam sad o haftâd sântimetr-e.) “My height is one hundred and seventy centimetres.”
- این پارچه رو سی سانتیمتر ببر. (in pârche ro si sântimetr bebar.) “Cut this fabric thirty centimetres.”
- خطکش یه متره، یعنی صد سانتیمتر. (khat-kesh ye metre, ya’ni sad sântimetr.) “A ruler is one metre, meaning one hundred centimetres.”
- زخمم دو سانتیمتره. (zakhmam do sântimetr-e.) “My wound is two centimetres.”
Cultural note
In Iran, body measurements for tailoring, medical height records, and school geometry all use سانتیمتر. Iranian tailors (خیاط, khayât) take chest, waist, and inseam measurements in sântimetr, and Iranians typically know and state their height in centimetres rather than feet and inches. The unit is taught in primary school math alongside متر and کیلومتر as part of the standard metric curriculum.