What it means
سروان (sarvân) denotes the military rank of captain in the Iranian Army and related armed forces. It is a pure Persian compound built from سر (sar, meaning head or chief) and the suffix وان (-vân, meaning keeper or holder of), a pattern also seen in words like باغبان (bâghbân, gardener) and نگهبان (negahbân, guard). سروان sits one step above ستوان (sotavân, lieutenant) and one step below سرگرد (sargard, major). Because the word belongs entirely to military register, it is rarely heard in casual conversation.
How to use it
- سروان احمدی فرمان داد. (sarvân Ahmadi farmân dâd.) “Captain Ahmadi gave the order.”
- اون سروانه تازه ترفیع گرفته. (un sarvâne tâze tarfi’ gerefte.) “That captain just got promoted.”
- گزارش رو به سروان بده. (gozâresh ro be sarvân bede.) “Give the report to the captain.”
- سروان جلوی سربازاش ایستاد. (sarvân jolo-ye sarbâzâsh istâd.) “The captain stood in front of his soldiers.”
Cultural note
Iran’s military rank structure distinguishes sharply between the Artesh (ارتش, the regular army) and the Sepah (سپاه, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), but the rank of سروان exists and is used in both. The -vân suffix appears across many classical Persian titles and occupational nouns, marking سروان as part of a deep native word-formation tradition rather than a modern coinage. In formal address, a captain is called directly by rank: “سروان” followed by the family name.